The Virtual Strawberry
by Zayad
Summary: Kisuke was a madman, yes, but also a genius. The moment he hacked into the Cardinal system out of boredom, he knew that there was a plot to trap twenty thousand people in the game known as Sword Art Online. But, he had other things to do. So, he meddled with some things, fiddled with other things, and tricked Ichigo into entering the world of Sword Art Online.
1. A Strawberry's Arrival

~Bleach/SAO A1 CH1

Ichigo was depressed.

After having lost his Shinigami powers and having gained his precious normal life back, Ichigo realized something. He didn't want a normal life. Normal was boring. How could he, a war veteran, live alongside normal students who hadn't ever fought for their lives before? How could they act so cheerily and mundane?

That answer was simple. Their hands were bloodless. They were innocent. They had only glimpsed Aizen's power when he had invaded Karakura Town. They were nearly cut down but because he had interfered, they had survived. That had made him happy. That he could protect his family and friends on both sides of life, the living and the dead.

But in the end, his normal friends didn't know what he had gone through. They didn't know he had actually died twice, once against Byakuya and once against Ulquiorra, only to revive stronger than ever and ready, always ready and willing to protect his friends. They didn't know that he had killed beings, beings that devoured souls, countless times. That he had actually slain a being that had more intelligence that the average, hungry Hollow.

No. He was no longer innocent. He had blood on his hands. He had experienced war. And he was okay with it. On some, deeper, instinctual level, he enjoyed fighting. He enjoyed proving his mettle time and time again even if he said he didn't. He enjoyed fighting though not solely for fighting's sake like Kenpachi Zaraki. Then again, he mused, Shiro was his Hollow and Shiro had enjoyed fighting.

But, more importantly, he fought to protect his friends and family. He fought to protect all whom needed to be protected. To protect was the cornerstone of what made him who he was. To protect was his actual self, not the side he tried to repress, it was a part that he shared with Zangetsu, who had only wanted to protect him.

Why hadn't he listened to Zangetsu when he had told him that he shouldn't try to learn the Final Getsuga Tensho?

But the answer was already obvious. He was just to stubborn to listen to the wise Zanpakuto spirit's advice.

He missed them. He missed Zangetsu's sage advice and calm words that could halt even his irritation and growing anger when dealing with assholes who wanted to kill him- like Shiro. Hell, he even missed Shiro. Fighting against him was always fun. He never had had to hold back in his spars against the bastard Hollow, especially since Shiro had always tried to kill him. He missed the bastard, dark side, badmouthing, and fighting, all of him. A part of him felt empty. He hadn't ever known of that emptiness they could bring until they were gone.

But, he continued with his life. It was what Zangetsu had always wanted for him. To abandon whatever fear plagued move forward and never stop. To never pull back. To never hesitate in his actions lest he die.

It was the least he could do for the man who had been his mentor and only wanted the best for him for the entirety of the time he had had his Shinigami powers.

Now then, Ichigo thought as he walked out of his house, _I guess I should should head to Urahara's. I wonder why he called for me after nearly a year._

_The date was November 6th, 2022. The time was 11:30 A.M._

…

Kisuke Urahara was slightly nervous, not that he would ever admit that to anyone but himself. He was nervous about the decision he had made to alter the virtual world of Sword Art Online.

Despite his nervousness, he giggled to himself, hiding his mouth behind his fan. _Well_, he thought to himself wryly, _it can't really be called Sword Art Online after everything I did._

He was more nervous about what he was about to do to the young hybrid of Hollow, Quincy, and Shinigami known as Ichigo Kurosaki. His plan was to immediately cast him Bakudo #1: Sai on him. Without his powers, Ichigo would never be able to break free from the simplest of Bakudo spells. Then, he had planned for Yoruichi to touch him all around his body for the calibration of the spectacular, if deadly, device known as the NerveGear. But, strangely enough, she wasn't here at the moment.

_How odd. She had definitely wanted to tease young Ichigo. Ah well, perhaps Ururu would like to do the honors. Though, Ichigo wouldn't exactly like that. Perhaps I should call a female member of Soul Society to do the job? They likely wouldn't get here in time. Perhaps that well-developed, buxom young girl that appears to have a crush on Ichigo? He frowned. She would disapprove. Ah well, I'll figure it out._

The third step of his master plan was to trick Ichigo into saying the words "Link Start" just as the time turned to 1:00pm, the beginning of Sword Art Online. Then, Ichigo would enter the virtual world and hopefully, save as many people as he possibly could.

As a reinstated Shinigami, despite being allowed to do his own thing, he could no longer interfere directly with human affairs. He was a good liar but even he would have trouble lying to the Captain-Commander if he disobeyed. However, if he sent Ichigo to do the job, then all would be okay since Ichigo was currently a human.

The door to his spectacular shop opened and Kisuke put on a wide grin at the scowling orange-haired teenage who walked up to his counter with a strangely defiant look in his brown eyes.

_Ohoho, even as a normal person, you still continue to surprise me, Ichigo Kurosaki. I had thought that this little vacation I'm about to put you on would be what cured you of your depression. You truly are amazing, Ichigo._

"Tea, Ichigo?" Kisuke offered, his fan raised to cover his still smirking mouth.

"Do you really expect me to believe that after eleven months of no contact, you invited me over for tea, Getaboushi? Cut the crap and tell me why you called me here," Ichigo slammed his hand against the counter.

Kisuke's eyes narrowed in mirth. He snapped his fan shut and held out a single hand towards Ichigo. "Very well then, Ichigo. Bakudo #1: Sai!"

The moment Ichigo had heard the word 'Bakudo' pass Kisuke's lips, he had moved, sidestepping to the left so he would at least have a chance of getting out of the shop. Unfortunately for the former Substitute Shinigami, his current speed, while astounding for a human, was little more than a snail's pace for the battle-hardened, former Captain of the Gotei 13, Kisuke Urahara.

Kisuke grinned as Ichigo fell to the ground, unconscious.

_I do so love it when things go according to plan._

…

Ichigo awoke with a pounding headache, forty-five minutes later. When he felt a hard, metal object on top of his head, he thought, what the hell is on top of my head?

The object was roundish, from what he could feel when he touched it with his hands. It was also humming as if it were alive. Strangely enough, his eyes were covered with a visor, that displayed the time in the top left corner and the battery level. So it was a machine.

He tried to remove it by lifting it off his head but his hands were smacked by something that felt like the end part of a cane.

"Kisuke," Ichigo growled. "What did you do to me?"

"Oh, nothing in particular. I simple decided to give you a little vacation," Kisuke said cheerily. "Have fun, Ichigo. Oh and by the way, link start."

"What the fuck is link start supposed to mean, ya damn bast-" To Ichigo, the world faded to black.

Kisuke chuckled. "That was easier than I expected. I suppose I should get ready to call the authorities now. Better hide all my Shinigami items."

_I wonder how long it'll take him to clear the game._

Ichigo was pissed. Why the hell did he have to create a username and password? All he wanted to do was get out of wherever the hell he was but as he soon discovered, he couldn't even move his body. _What the hell, Kisuke?! When I get out of here, you're a dead man! _He paused when he realized that Kisuke was a Shinigami. _A deader man, he amended, if something like that exists._

His now white world came to a screen that told him to input a username.

Username? Is this some sort of game? Ah, what the hell, it's not like I'm gonna be here for long, anyways. Ichigo it is. If it works, stick with it, right?

"Please select the characteristics you would like your avatar to have."

A screen appeared detailing what Ichigo could change ranging from eye color to the size of his feet. Upon a closer inspection, he noticed an option that read 'Do not change anything.'

Well, I won't be here for long anyways. Might as well go with what I look like in real life.

"Welcome to Sword Art Online," a voice told him as the system materialized the virtual world of Sword Art Online.

"Whoa," Ichigo whispered to himself as he bore witness to the grand city known as the Town of Beginnings.

The Town of Beginnings, from what Ichigo could see from his vantage point before the teleporting of more players obscured his vision, was enormous. Easily large enough to hold several thousand people. Houses, shops, and other buildings both large and small were mostly made of stone in a beige-whitish colors though occasionally, there were buildings of other colors. The entire floor of the city was made of paved stone. Elegant and somewhat reminiscent of Soul Society, in Ichigo's opinion. He shook his head to rid himself of thoughts of the past and gaped some more. It was both amazing and impressive to see such a large city in wherever the hell he was.

The streets, four of them all heading in different directions, were all lined with people scurrying about and selling wares. Merchants shouted out what they were selling. Some played muscial instruments and others sung songs he had never heard of before today. Then, he saw them. Swords. Swords that he could use.

Ichigo smiled at the sight. _Maybe I'll stick around here for a while after all._

"Good afternoon, Ichigo!"

"What the fuck?" Ichigo recoiled backwards in surprise that someone had greeted him, let alone knew his name. He hadn't even realized that he had taken a karate stance until he began garnering weird looks from other, recently arrived players. Slowly, he relaxed himself.

"Who said that?" He demanded.

"Down here, Ichigo!"

Ichigo looked down only to find a peculiar sight staring back at him. It, or rather he, was a tiny thing, hardly larger than six inches in height. He had blonde hair which was mostly covered by the green and white striped bucket hat sitting on his head, grey eyes currently rounded in innocence at him, and was wearing a dark coat, sandals, and holding up his typical if miniaturized fan which covered his mouth.

"Chibi Getaboushi?"

"Hello, Ichigo-kun. Fancy meeting you here," he giggled.

Ichigo was about to respond when he remembered something that he had nearly forgotten when he had found himself awestruck about the city he had landed in and when he had seen a familiar face.

Kisuke Urahara had put him in this virtual world. Forced him. Kidnapped him.

"Get me out of here, ya damn Chibi bastard!" Ichigo yelled, garnering a few more looks and whispers about his orange hair but not really caring about the passerby because he had managed to kick the Chibi Getaboushi in the face.

Chibi Getaboushi had been sent crashing into a nearby fountain. Then, Ichigo heard the whispers.

"Why is that guy talking to himself?"

"I'm scared of that strange man! Please protect me!"

"Maybe he's some sort of NPC?"

"Maybe he has a quest?"

"No way! He's a player, I saw him teleport in before he began talking to himself!"

"Have you finished yet, Ichigo-kun? Or do you need to kick me again? They can't see me, you know? I would have told you earlier but you kicked me." Chibi Getaboushi explained. "You better follow me otherwise you'll look like an idiot for talking to yourself."

Ichigo bit his tongue and followed the Chibi Getaboushi. It wouldn't to beat the crap out of him in front of hundreds of people. He knew it was best not to act crazy in front of people. So he wouldn't hurt the Chibi Getaboushi. Yet.

So, Ichigo followed Chibi Getaboushi through spiraling twists and turn, completely bypassing most of the marketplace and all of the sword shops Ichigo desperately wanted to visit to see if even a single sword remotely resembled his former Zanpakuto. Eventually, after much walking and silence, they came across a gate which displayed rolling plains, a wide open sky, and several purple furred creatures with tusks and red eyes. In some slightly cartoonish way, they resembled boars.

"Well then, Ichigo. I assume you have absolutely no experience with MMORPGs or even RPGs," Chibi Getaboushi finally spoke as they crossed the threshold of the gate and city and entered the wild.

"I know a little about them, played a couple when Keigo wouldn't stop complaining that I never did anything with him," Ichigo replied, staring at a distant boar. When he looked closer, he saw that above the creature, there was a name. «Frenzy Boar». "Why do you ask?"

"I ask because you are currently playing the first full dive MMORPG. Your consciousness has been transferred into this game. You can't even move your real body now unless you logout," Chibi Getaboushi told him.

"I see," Ichigo said. He had read once, if he recalled correctly, about such a thing a few months back in May when some hot, virtual simulation item was sold out the moment they hit stores. He hadn't really been paying much attention since playing games wasn't really his thing. Fighting for his life and for the lives of his friends and family? That was his thing. "Why am I here?"

"Nope, not yet," Chibi Getaboushi told him amusingly. And he was right to be amused. When had Chibi Getaboushi or even Getaboushi for that matter, ever told him his plan until long after it was in full swing? Getaboushi hadn't told him when he had put the Hogyoku in Rukia's gigai though to be fair, he hardly had known what a Shinigami was at that point. He hadn't told the former Substitute Shinigami that he had a Kido spell, newly invented, waiting to capture Aizen at his weakest. So, Ichigo resolved to wait. Hopefully, it wouldn't turn out too bad.

"I don't have much time before the «Cardinal» system detects me and eradicates my existence from this world because I'm too much of an anomaly for «Cardinal» to recognize me as domestic," Chibi Getaboushi said.

"How unsurprising," Ichigo smirked.

"Ohoho, I'm surprised, Ichi-kun," Ichigo scowled at the nickname. "You don't usually have a comeback ready. I'm also surprised that you're not threatening to beat me up. You really have changed, haven't you?"

"Get on with why you're here," Ichigo ignored the Chibi Getaboushi's last rhetorical question. Of course he had changed. "You don't have much time, right? So put it to good use before I logout."

Chibi Getaboushi raised his fan before smirking at Ichigo's naivety. "In any case, this virtual world is known as Sword Art Online, however, I have made changes so that it isn't really a world of swords any longer. The people in here will need as many advantages as they can possibly get if they plan on surviving."

Ichigo frowned. "You speak as if they die for real if they die in the game, Chibi Getaboushi."

Chibi Getaboushi lowered his fan to give Ichigo a wide grin. "You catch on quickly, don't you Ichi-kun?"

Ichigo groaned. "Fuck you, Chibi-bastard! What the hell did you get me into this time, asshole?"

Chibi Getaboushi uncharacteristically turned serious. "The creator of this world, Kayaba Akihiko, has trapped twenty thousand players within the game. The moment a player arrives in Sword Art Online, they can no longer logout. There are only two ways to get out of the game. The first is to clear all one hundred floors of this castle, Aincrad. The second is to die."

"Why did you bring me here then, Kisuke?" Ichigo asked seriously. "Why didn't you just handle it yourself?"

"Unfortunately, I am no longer an exiled member of Soul Society but a fully reinstated Shinigami who just so happens to live in Karakura Town. As a Shinigami, I can no longer interfere in human affairs unless the reason is a Hollow," Chibi Getaboushi answered.

"That's never stopped you before. You tried helping the Visored even though you didn't have to, right? What's stopping you this time?" Ichigo questioned.

Chibi Getaboushi grimaced. "There are plans in motion, Ichigo. Well, really, just one plan by one man and an entire army at his beck and call. Needless to say, I need to be here so I can prepare for it and hopefully prevent the world from ending. You, on the other hand, are a human. A former Shinigami but a human now." Ichigo scowled at the mention of his lack of powers. "You can help them, Ichigo. Help everyone. Twenty thousand people is a lot but not nearly enough compared to the fate of the world. But I know you, Ichigo Kurosaki. I know if you had even the smallest chance of helping even one more person, you would take it. So take it, Ichigo."

Ichigo scowled at him. It was true that he would always try to help, always try to protect those unable to protect themselves, but he didn't actively go out searching for people to help. They almost always needed his help, whether they said it aloud or not. Well, he supposed, this time was no different. He hadn't been looking to help out twenty thousand people but since he was here, he might as well do it now.

"And what about my friends and family? What do you think they'll say when they find me unable to speak to them because you put me in this game?" Ichigo asked.

"I'm sure they'll understand," Chibi Getaboushi answered, somewhat nervous at the response he would likely receive for forcing Ichigo to play the game. Perhaps he could somehow blame it all on Ichigo?

As if he read the blonde's mind, the orange haired man told the chibi, "You take all the blame, understand?"

Chibi Getaboushi raised his hand to his face and fanned himself lightly while changing the subject. "Why don't I teach you how to play and what I changed in this new version of the game from the old game?"

Ichigo crossed his arms. "Start talking."

"The original version of Sword Art Online or SAO as the term goes, held only melee weapons such as swords, lances, daggers, spears, hammers, and axes as the game's main weapons. There were also some throwing weapons such throwing picks, darts, boomerangs, and chakrams. Obviously, that would make for a very boring game. So, while I was busy rooting around in the «Cardinal» mainframe, I took the liberty of changing some things using some pre-existing data I found deep within its servers," Chibi Getaboushi told the orange-haired man proudly.

"You're babbling, chibi. Get to the point," Ichigo told him bluntly, not impressed at all with his incredible and illegal hacking skills.

"I added magic to the game."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "And? You know I'm a sword and hand-to-hand combatant, chibi," Ichigo remarked.

"Well," Chibi Getaboushi began. "Think of this as what would have been the next part of your neglected training in the Kido aspects of a Shinigami! Because for you, I added some Kido spell I knew into your repertoire. Think of it as your unique brand of magic. Most magics in the game will have an elemental type but yours will be a lot cooler since Shinigami like myself use Kido spells."

Ichigo's eye twitched at the mention of his neglected training. Bastard. That would have been useful a year and a half ago.

"So I get to use Kido spells and everyone else gets to use magic. Anything else I should know?" Ichigo asked dully.

"Well, there isn't any reiatsu in the game, obviously, but there is something called mana that I added. And for you, instead of using those magic spells I added to the game, you get to use Kido spells. Both Hado and Bakudo spells. I didn't add all of them, only some of them. Like magic, Kido spells will rely upon you having the «Magic» skill. The higher you train your «Magic» skill, the less mana it will cost to use the spell. Simultaneously, as your train the skill up, your damage for each spell you use will increase." Chibi Getaboushi explained. "As an added bonus, I added incantations for some of the Kido spells. If you use the incantation, the damage would be twice what it normally would be."

"But it would take more time to use the spell. So it's a question of time versus power. I suppose it'll depend on the situation," Ichigo inferred.

"Correct. The second thing I changed or rather, added, were sword skills. Kayaba Akihiko has spent years creating this game. I have no doubt that he can perfectly counter each and every sword skill he had put into the game." Chibi Getaboushi smirked evilly. "Too bad for him that real life doesn't work that way."

"Don't I know it," Ichigo muttered under his breath, thinking back on all the fights against both Shinigami and Hollow he had been in.

"So, I created a skill already given to all players while not detracting from the total amount of skills a player can have. «Original Sword Skill». It does exactly what what it says. It allows a player to create any weapon skill they could possibly think of provided that they would actually be able maintain the speed, power, and execution needed to create the skill. I would recommend using both the original sword skills and skills of your own creation. Otherwise, when you eventually fight the creator of the game, you might find yourself outmatched," Chibi Getaboushi warned.

"What makes you think I'll end up fighting him?" Ichigo asked, honestly curious.

"Oh, please, Ichigo. Think about it for a minute. Why would he go through all this trouble to create this game if he didn't even participate in it. Think about your own experiences. Would you have relied on someone else to rescue Rukia or Orihime or would you have done it youself?"

"I would have done it myself, obviously. Oh..."

"Right. It's boring to only sit around and watch. Of course he'll participate in the game he created. He'll also probably end up doing something cliché like be the «Final Boss» of the game."

"I understand. Create sword skills. Got it."

"Next is Shunpo. In this world, it'll be an advanced version of the «Sprint» skill. You can still traverse long distances as «Sprint» would do, but you can also increase your movement during combat to get behind an opponent. Of course, I'll also give you some Shunpo techniques. It'll be up to you to unlock them." Chibi Getaboushi told him slyly.

"Gee, thanks, Chibi Getaboushi."

"Finally, your Zanpakuto."

At this, Ichigo perked up. He was wondering if he would have to buy some sword as his melee weapon. Or if he would have to rely solely on Kido spells. That would suck. Especially since the only experience he had with Kido spells was being assaulted by those spells.

"You already have the unreleased version of your Zanpakuto in your inventory. It will not have a name until you initiate Shikai, and later on, Bankai. Your powers will be similar, of course. It'll be up to you to discover how exactly this translates to SAO." A moment's pause. "Well then, lets see how you do in practice. Why don't you open up your menu?"

Ichigo stared at the Chibi Getaboushi. "There's a menu?"

Chibi Getaboushi sighed. "Honestly, what would you do without me, Ichigo?"

"Not get into messes like these," Ichigo retorted. "Now, you gonna tell me how to open up this menu or not?"

"Put your right index finger and thumb together and move the two connected fingers downwards," Chibi Getaboushi put his own two fingers together and moved his fingers downwards as an example.

"Whoa," Ichigo said as he heard a ringing sound followed by the appearance of his menu.

His menu had five major categories: inventory, friends/guild, communication, maps/quests, and settings/main menu. While curious about the maps/quest and settings categories, he did as instructed and selected the inventory category. Then, three sub categories appeared, equipment, items, and skills. He selected the equipment icon which further offered three more subcategories, weapons, armor, equipped, and accessory. Since he had nothing but clothes equipped and did not currently own any accessories, he selected the weapon icon. Within, he found only the unnamed sword in his weapon inventory.

It had the «Zanjutsu» typing.

"Oi, Chibi Getaboushi. Why does this sword say «Zanjutsu»?" Ichigo asked after equipping the sword.

"It means that your sword requires the «Zanjutsu»skill. Why don't you open up your skill list and add that to your skills?" Chibi Getaboushi suggested.

"Right," Ichigo said as he opened up his menu once again and selected the skills icon.

"What the-" Ichigo began. "Oi, Chibi, why the hell do I have so many skills already?"

His current skill list contained the skills «Shunpo» 0/1000. «Magic» 0/1000, «Original Sword Skill», and two blank skill slots. Clicking on one of the blank slots opened up an additional menu that held various skills. Scrolling to the bottom, right after the skill «Yodeling» was the skill «Zanjutsu». After pressing yes to the confirmation screen, he finally had the «Zanjutsu» skill.

"Ah, well, I wouldn't want to put you at a disadvantage, Ichi-kun. I might as save you some slots. Maybe you'll find something you like doing in here. After all, you may be here for a while." Chibi Getaboushi told him cheerily.

Ignoring the chibi, Ichigo instead focused upon the sword in his right hand. He swung it around a few times skillfully, impressing the Chibi Getaboushi with the slowly growing masterful display of sword wielding. His skill hadn't rusted too much. All he needed to do was to was brush off the rust on his skills and he would be good to go.

"All right, this was nice, Chibi. What about Hakuda? I don't think I saw it when I was scrolling through the list of skills," Ichigo wondered.

"Ah, well, I can't give you everything, Ichi-kun. I will give you a hint though. You'll find the skill on the second floor of Aincrad."

Ichigo filed away that piece of information for future reference. Hakuda would be useful to have if he was ever disarmed or low on mana. That line of thought brought another question to his mind. "How do I check my level, health, and mana, Chibi?"

"Haven't you noticed it yet, Ichi-kun?" Chibi Getaboushi asked him. "All you have to do is look in the top right corner."

Ichigo looked there, having never really paid attention to it because of having to deal with the Chibi Getaboushi and later on, getting an explanation from. He first noticed his name, Ichigo. Then, he noticed his level, 1. Finally, he noticed his red health bar and blue mana bar underneath it. Underneath that was a green experience bar. Health: 250. Mana: 6500. Experience: 0/200.

"Oi, Getaboushi, why the hell do I have so much mana?" Ichigo asked.

"Well, I tried to mimic your reiatsu reserves when you had just recently entered the Shinigami life. Your reiatsu reserves were monstrous. So, I made your mana that way too. Aren't you grateful, Ichi-kun?"

"Ah, shut the hell up, Chibi-bastard," Ichigo said, as he turned his eyes once more to the «Frenzy Boar» in the distance. "Guess I'll try a Hado spell first."

He stepped forward, holding out an outstretched palm in the boar's direction before loudly shouting the words he knew all too well. "The seeping crest of turbidity! The arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt the sleep! The crawling queen of iron! The eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness! Hado #90: Kurohitsugi!"

The ensuing silence was broken by Chibi Getaboushi's loud giggles. "You didn't honestly believe that you would get that Kido spell from the very beginning, did you?"

"Shut up," Ichigo's cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "That was the only Kido spell I knew and that's only because it's been used against me by a bunch of times, mostly by Aizen. Besides, you told me that I would have to figure them out myself, right?"

"I suppose I could give you the first two. The Bakudo spell is Bakudo #1: Sai and its Hado counterpart is Hado #1: Sho. Neither of them have incantations so why don't you try attracting of the boar and then using one of the spells. By the way, if you select your «Magic» skill, a screen will pop detailing your current spells and incantations, if they have one." Chibi Getaboushi added with a grin.

"All right already, Chibi-bastard, no need to rub it in," Ichigo said as he began walking towards the boar.

He swung his sword a few more times experimentally as he approached the boar. The boar perked up as it detected a player. It pawed the ground once, twice, three times, before it began its speedy charge.

Lets see, if I remember correctly, Bakudo #1: Sai can halt someone in their tracks. Or in this case, a boar.

Ichigo held out his empty hand, his middle and index fingers outstretched. "Bakudo #1: Sai!"

There was no color to the spell to determine when exactly the spell would hit but the effect was evident nonetheless. Immediately after calling out the name of the spell, the «Frenzy Boar» tensed up, immediately coming to a stop. Ichigo took a glance at his mana bar. 6400.

After five seconds, the «Frenzy Boar» struggled to his feet before repeating the same tactic it had used moments earlier. A charge.

This time Ichigo called out the other spell in his repertoire. "Hado #1: Sho!"

This time a spark of white energy formed quickly from his finger tip before shooting out rapidly at the boar. The «Frenzy Boar» found itself pushed back a couple feet and knocked to the ground. It shook its head as it got up before charging a third time at the strange player.

This time, Ichigo raised his sword and prepared himself to attack the «Frenzy Boar» head on. _Damn it, Getaboushi, you could have at least given me an attacking spell. _Then, he noticed something strange. He had noticed the green health bar of the boar before he had tested out the two spells. Now, he noticed that the boar's health had gone down by a little. _Hopefully the next spell I learn will do some more damage. _He checked his mana level. 6250. _So it takes a little more mana to use a Hado spell than it does to use a Bakudo spell._

Ichigo easily dodged to the left, the charging boar passing him by a wide margin. It soon slowed down before stopping and turning around. The purple furred creature pawed the ground three times before charging once more at the orange haired man.

This time, Ichigo charged as well, the tip of his sword brushing against the grass, as he held the sword in a loose stance. As soon as the boar was about to headbutt him, he quickly flicked his black sword against the boar with enough strength to knock it off course, completely avoiding being damaged.

Ichigo swiftly spun on his feet and noticed that the side of the boar had a deep, red gash. _I guess nothing actually bleeds in this game._

Ichigo smiled slightly to himself as he noticed that the boar's health bar had gone down significantly. He held out a hand. "Bakudo #1: Sai."

Ichigo wasted no time. "Shunpo!" Within the blink of an eye, Ichigo had crossed the rather short distance between himself and the boar, and began hacking at the hide of the boar, scoring five gashes on the fur of the boar in the time it took for the boar to recover. Ichigo immediately jumped backwards, avoiding the boar's white tusks.

The «Frenzy Boar's» health bar was in the red. It slowly got up to its feet, desperate for one final charge against the human player. It pawed three times before charging one final time at the orange haired player.

Before it could even get into its full run, Ichigo appeared on its left flank and stabbed the boar quickly, ending its virtual existence and shattering into countless, blue polygons. A screen appeared informing him that he had gained 24 experience and 30 col, whatever the hell that was.

_So that's the death in this world,_ Ichigo mused. _How...humane._

In the real world, death wasn't like that at all. Some deaths were quick, yes, but all deaths were not as simple as the one he had just witnessed. _I guess death is like that to get people used to the idea of killing._

"I would have laughed if you had been hurt against something as simple as a boar, Ichigo," Chibi Getaboushi said as he walked up to Ichigo.

"It looks like I need to get stronger. I would have killed that boar with a single strike if I had attacked it when I was a Shinigami," Ichigo said aloud.

"Anyways, Chibi, you never did say why no one could see you back then." Ichigo said, remembering back to when he had kicked the chibi in the lake.

"Oh, that's because only you can see me, Ichi-kun. I didn't want to attract any attention. You must have looked pretty weird in the eyes of all those players when you were talking to me. It must have looked like you were talking to yourself when you were talking to me." Chibi Getaboushi grinned at him.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. He doubted he would be remembered for making a small disturbance when they had all of Aincrad to explore. Or when Kayaba Akihiko tipped his hand and revealed his plot.

"This is goodbye, Ichigo," Chibi Getaboushi interrupted Ichigo's thoughts. "I'm out of time. Do be careful. It would be a shame if you died because of a simple thing like this game."

"There's nothing simple about this, Kisuke. Anyways, you better take care of Yuzu and Karin while I'm gone since it's your fault I'm here. If they die, if they're harmed in any way," Ichigo cracked his knuckles threateningly, "you're a dead man when I come out."

"Understood, Ichigo," Chibi Getaboushi saluted. "Then, see you when you get out."

He disappeared in a shower of blue polygons.

Ichigo looked around the rolling, grassy plains, until he found a «Frenzy Boar».

_Well then, I guess I should start leveling up._

…

"What the-?"

Ichigo hadn't expected being forcefully teleported after just having finished killing another boar. He certainly hadn't expected to be surrounded by thousands of people. Likely, the entirety of the players that had logged in to SAO, if he thought about it for a moment.

He supposed he should act confused since he wasn't supposed to know what exactly was going on yet. He spotted two players, one with long, black hair reaching to his shoulders and wearing a blue shirt and black pants, and the other, a red head wearing a bandana, a beige shirt and brown pants with some sort of reddish leather armor on top of his shirt.

"Hey," Ichigo interrupted the duo's talking. They both turned to face him. "My name's Ichigo. I was wondering if you two knew what was going on."

The two of them stared at him for a moment, taking in his appearance. He was tall, taller than both of them and had spiky, eye-catching orange hair, brown eyes, and a small scowl on his face that looked like a grimance as if he were forcibly repressing what his usual scowl looked like. He was wearing a black leather armor piece on top of a white shirt and black pants. To the two of them, he was an intimidating man.

"I'm Klein," the red head finally said, pointing to himself before pointing to the black haired boy, "and that's Kirito. And no, neither of us know what's going on."

"I think," Kirito spoke, looking at the sky, "that we're about to find out."

The sky filled with a red, cubic shaped signal that had only one of two phrases inscribed: Warning and System Announcement. The red warning signs descended from the sky, coloring the entire sky red. Murmuring filled the colosseum where all the players had been forced teleport.

Without warning, a blood colored liquid dripped down from the top of the warning signs, coalescing just before the liquid would hit the ground, and forming a red cloaked figure whose face was covered by a hood. All Ichigo could see was a black void in place of a face.

"I think that's a GM," Kirito said.

"GM?" Ichigo asked.

"Game Master, one of the people you usually call when a problem arises. Maybe he'll tell us why the log out button is missing," Kirito explained.

"Attention players, I welcome you to my world." The red figure held his hands out. "My name is Akihiko Kayaba and as of this moment, I am the only person able to control this world."

"I'm sure most of you have already noticed that the logout button is missing from the main menu." The figure's voice turned sharp. "Let me assure you this is not a defect of the game."

Whisperings filled the crowd, much of them panic-driven.

"I repeat... this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be."

"You cannot log yourselves out of Sword Art Online of your own free will. And no one on the outside will be able to shut down or remove the NerveGear. If anyone attempts to do so, the transmitter inside the NerveGear will emit powerful microwave radiation, destroying your brain and ending your life."

"That can't be possible, right?" Klein asked in horror. "I mean, if we just unplugged the NerveGear, we would be fine, right?"

"The NerveGear has an internal power that can last for hours on end. I think he's telling the truth." Kirito answered the red haired man.

"Unfortunately, many people have ignored my warning and have attempted to remove the NerveGear. Regretfully, the game now has 213 less players. They have exited permanently from both Aincrad and the real world."

"What?!"

"That can't be possible!"

"As you can see, international media outlets across the world are reporting on the situation," the GM displayed various screens revolving around him. His voice turned ominous. "and have reported the deaths."

"At this point, it is safe to assume the likelihood that a NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game."

"It is important to remember the following. There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system." The screens revolving around Kayaba Akihiko disappeared. "Forever."

"And the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain."

The crowd went quiet at the declaration.

"The one condition for your escape is to complete the game. Right now, you are gathered on the lowest floor of Aincrad, Floor 1. If you can get through the dungeon and clear the boss, you can advance to the next floor. Defeat the final boss on floor 100 and you will clear the game." A hologram appeared showing the floating castle of Aincrad.

"That's impossible!" Klein shouted in anger. "The beta testers didn't even make it past Floor 10!"

"Now then, finally, I have placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please see for yourselves."

One by one, players slowly accessed their inventory and accessed their equipment. They all noticed the «Mirror» in their inventory and materialized it in their hands.

"What the heck is this?" Klein asked, touching the mirror with a single finger. He was suddenly engulfed in a blue light.

"Klein!" Kirito shouted before he, too, was engulfed in a bright, blue light.

One by one, players were slowly engulfed in the same light. Ichigo looked at his mirror in confusion after the light that had enveloped him faded. Was this supposed to do something? Nothing had happened to him. He still had the same, short orange-hair, brown eyes, and small scowl. He was still the same height and still wearing the same clothes. He quickly accessed his inventory. He still had his sword. He checked his skills. His four skills were still there.

"Hey, Kirito, are you okay?" Klein asked.

He looks about the same as he did before the light show, Ichigo thought.

"Who the heck are you?" Kirito asked.

Kirito's hair had shortened dramatically and his height had dropped several inches but he was still recognizable as the figure he had seen before though some what more feminine-looking.

"K-Klein!" Kirito shouted, pointing at the red head man.

"Kirito!" Klein said at the same moment, pointing at him in realization.

"Oi, oi, don't be so dramatic about it. It's not like you both look completely different from your avatars," Ichigo interrupted.

"I-Ichigo!" The two of them faced him. "You don't look any different."

Ichigo shrugged. "A... friend of mine asked me to play this game. I thought I'd humor him for a few minutes so I didn't bother customizing my avatar." Ichigo looked at them intently. "Doesn't really matter now, I guess, since I think that those mirrors reverted everyone's image to their real life appearance."

"But how did these «Mirrors» change us to our real life appearances?" Kirito asked.

"The NerveGear! It had us touch our bodies for calibration!" Klein shouted.

"That makes sense," Kirito admitted. "And we had to input our hair color, eye color, and so on. I guess we know the reason why now."

Ichigo clenched his fist. _You're a dead man, Getaboushi._

"Right now, you're probably wondering, 'why'?" Kayaba said. "Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do such a thing?"

"My goal has already been achieved."

"The reason I created Sword Art Online was to create this world and meddle in it. As you can see, I have achieved my goal."

"This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. I wish you the best of luck, players."

A stunned silence descended upon the gathered players as Kayaba Akihiko vanished from view. For several seconds, there was absolutely no sound, no movement, nothing but the whistling of the wind.

_Shit, now's my chance!_ Ichigo realized.

Ichigo raised his left hand and pointed it to the sky. I'm glad I managed to reach Level 4 otherwise getting everyone's attention would have been difficult.

"Hado #4: Byakurai!"

From Ichigo's fingertip, white energy condensed into a single, minuscule, white sphere. Then, not even a second later, a thin stream of white lightning tinged in blue exploded from his finger and shot upwards into the sky. Seconds later, long before it would crash into the barrier that pronounced the end of the virtual world, the thin stream of lightning faded from sight. It was a thin, nearly negligible sight but against the sunset sky, it caught the eyes of every player.

Kirito and Klein stared at him in awe. Neither of them had known that magic would be a part of the new SAO. Then again, neither of them knew Kisuke Urahara.

"I'm glad I've got all your attention," Ichigo spoke loudly as he strolled to the center of the arena, where a platform and tower with a bell at its top existed.

The crowd parted for him, all unsure of what exactly he was going to say but interested nonetheless because of his casual display of an unfamiliar and exciting technique. Despite having been told that SAO was a death game, many were still interested in what the orange haired man had to say. Maybe he would teach them how to use magic like he did? They were especially interested simply because their mentality had changed when they had been told that they were currently in a death game. It was, at the moment in time, easier to grab their attention.

_Shit. What the hell do I say?_ Ichigo asked himself as he slowly walked through the crowd and up to the platform. _Do I just start talking about how we shouldn't give up to some asshole who thinks he's a god? Or should I break the tension? Well, obviously, I need to break the ice, so to speak._

Ichigo was nervous as he faced the sea of players all staring at him. His skin itched and his palms, which were at his sides, began sweating. _Shit. This is a lot more intimidating than facing off against any of the Espada. Give me Ulquiorra any day of the week over this. Right, can't complain now. Gotta say something. Now!_

"First off," Ichigo spoke clearly, easily heard over the silence. "I would like to start by saying that yes, this is my natural hair color! So don't ask!"

The silence continued. Then, after several seconds, a girl began giggling. That giggling spread across the crowd turning into smiles and raucous laughter all throughout the crowd. The nervousness and fear had been replaced by the orange-haired man's random statement.

The heavy weight Ichigo felt on his shoulders of saying the wrong thing and the butterflies in his stomach that had accumulated because he had been about to speak in front of twenty thousand people, visibly left the orange haired man. He took a deep breath and stood straighter.

The laughter faded as they all listened intently to the man's next words. "As you all probably saw, I used a spell to get your attention. Magic exists in this game. For some reason or another, Kayaba Akihiko didn't tell us but as you can see-" Ichigo whispered the incantation and a second thin stream of lightning emerged from his fingertip where it soon faded into the sky, "magic exists. I don't know if anyone else found it yet but there's a blue bar between the health bar and the experience bar that says mana. Also, there's a skill on the skill list that says «Magic» so if you're interested in that, you should check it out."

"Anyways, I didn't come here to tell you all about that. I'm here to tell you that we shouldn't panic."

"Why the hell shouldn't we panic?"

"We're in a death game!"

"Panicking has never solved anything." Ichigo told them all calmly. "There's no reason to simply because it's a useless thing that does nothing but create hysteria and causes you to make decisions you wouldn't normally do. So don't panic."

"I'm sure that all of you, like me, want to survive. Of course we want to survive, we have things to do, friends and family to see. But you heard Akihiko. He's trapped us in this game. He's spent most of his life on Sword Art Online, or so I've read, so there's only one thing to do. Beat the game. That is the only way we survive this game and the only way to beat the game is to work together!"

"It's impossible!" A player shouted at him. "Even the beta testers never made it past Floor 10!"

"Impossible? Who the hell said that? Never mind, I don't care who said that. Shouldn't it have been impossible to trap us in here in the first place?! Well, if some bastard who thinks he's a god just because he can meddle in the world can trap us in this virtual world, then I say that it's equally possible to get the hell out of this shitty world! You think it's impossible? Then, just watch me as I clear this game, with or without your help!" Ichigo roared passionately. He had been told that many things were impossible like a human having a large amount of reiatsu or achieving Bankai in less than three days or defeating Kenpachi Zaraki without his eyepatch or going toe-to-toe against Aizen in his final evolution and coming out on top. "Impossible is a word used by those to weak to take action! If you don't know how to do something, ask someone for help. If can't do something, try until you can. You say that it's impossible to beat the game. I say, how do you know until you've tried to beat the game?"

"I'll be honest. I don't know how to play this game. A friend just handed me a NerveGear, the game, and told me to have fun." Ichigo scratched back of his head. "Hell, I didn't really even know about this game until he told me about it. I'm not really one for games but now, this game became a battle. A battle to fight for the right of your survival. That's something I'm good at. I will help you as much as I can but in the end, I can't be thousands of places at one time so it'll be up to you to help yourselves. Level up. Train. Fight. And survive. If there's anyone that can help us to fight in this world, I'd be grateful if you helped as many people as you can."

Kirito hadn't been sure what to make of Ichigo at first. He was definitely unique with his orange hair. And a little scary, if he was honest to himself, with that scowl. Ichigo hadn't really shown any emotion even when Kayaba Akihiko announced Sword Art Online to be a death game without any form of escape except to clear all 100 floors of Aincrad or death. It was as if he had faced death before. It was strange.

But when Ichigo had done something he himself had wanted to do as well but hadn't had the courage to, he thought he knew Ichigo a little better, even if he hadn't known the orange-haired man for that long. So, he decided to help him out even it meant outing himself as a beta tester.

"I'm a beta tester!" Kirito yelled in the silence, raising his hand and astonishing many of the people around him including Klein. "Please come to me if you need help with the game!"

His words echoed around for a moment before another person, this time a man with blue hair who looked as if he had found a blue dye that he had then used on himself before being teleported and having his true appearance revealed, shouted, his arm raised proudly high into the air, the same words Kirito had chosen. The same words were repeated by hundreds of other players, their arms all raised into the sky.

People began following the beta testers out of the arena and out of the city, into the plains where «Frenzy Boars» roamed in huge populations spread around an even larger space.

_Well then, I don't think that turned out half bad, _Ichigo thought as he spotted Kirito and Klein moving with a large crowd out of the arena. _I guess I should follow them. I still don't know how to use sword skills._

...

"Yo, Kirito, Klein," Ichigo greeted with an uplifted palm as he walked towards the duo who were standing a distance away from people who were practicing how to use their sword skills.

"Oh, Ichigo!" Klein raised his own hand in greeting. "Nice speech. You really saved a lot of people today."

"Yeah, good job, Ichigo," Kirito said. "That was pretty courageous of you. I wouldn't have had the courage to do the same thing if you hadn't been here."

"I just didn't want everyone to think we were in a hopeless situation," Ichigo shrugged his shoulders.

He had tons of experience of dealing in near-hopeless situations ranging from his invasion of Soul Society to rescue Rukia to facing off against Grimmjow for the first time to going against Aizen without his Dangai training to utilize Mugetsu. Each time he had been bested but had eventually bounced back from his depressive state to try again. Most people, however, weren't like him. They couldn't simply bounce back like he could. If they had been allowed to wallow in pity, he was sure that many of them would have simply given up hope and would have done absolutely nothing for the entire game. He had given them hope- even if it was only a small glimmer. At the very least, they could learn how to fight to protect themselves and people they cared about.

"So, do you need help with something?" Kirito asked after a moment.

"Yeah," Ichigo materialized his black, unsealed Zanpakuto and rested it on one of his shoulders. "I don't know how to use any sword skills. I mean, I used one once, accidentally against a «Frenzy Boar» but I haven't had a chance to try it again since we were all force teleported. I was hoping one of you could help me, if it's not too much trouble."

"Not at all," Kirito replied as he equipped his own sword. "The first thing you should know is that these sword skills are preprogrammed. All you have to do is put your sword in the correct stance and the «System Assist» will take care of the rest."

Kirito demonstrated with his own sword. He stood straight, one hand gripped firmly on the handle of his sword. It soon glowed a bluish color, demonstrating that a sword skill had activated. With a swift slash of his sword, the sword skill ended. "Like so. Of course, different styles have different sword skills. What kind of sword style did you choose?"

"Sword style?" Ichigo asked, somewhat confused at the term. After all, his style was simply built upon his numerous experiences in battle. Did SAO offer kendo or something?

"For instance, I'm using the «One-Handed Straight Sword» skill to use my weapon." Kirito said.

"And I'm using the «One-Handed Curved Sword» skill," Klein chimed in, walking towards after having dealt with a «Frenzy Boar» that had spawned near them. "I want a katana! Samurai are so cool!"

_Shinigami are cooler,_ Ichigo thought childishly before responding. "I'm using Zanjutsu. It sounded pretty cool and I practice something similar to what its description said so I chose it."

"Zanjutsu?" Kirito rubbed his chin. "I don't think I heard of that in the beta test."

Kirito opened his menu to the skill selection screen and scrolled down to the letter 'Z' and read the description on Zanjutsu.

_Zanjutsu: The Art of the Sword. It is said that this sword style was once used by a race of supernatural beings that helped spirits pass on to the afterlife. It is said that if one were to learn the name of their sword, they would unlock a mysterious power. Be warned! Only one with the strongest of wills and the greatest of hearts can unlock the full potential of this style._

"Huh, that's pretty interesting." Kirito said after reading the description. And it was. How would Kayaba Akihiko design the SAO mainframe to determine who had a strong will or a great heart? How would he let a person talk to a sword? Perhaps some type of quest? "Unfortunately, Ichigo, since this skill wasn't in the beta test, I wouldn't know what sword stance you would need to take to use a sword skill. Thankfully, though, if you select the «Zanjutsu» skill on your menu, it'll tell you what starting skills you have and what stance you would need to take to activate the skill."

Ichigo sighed in relief. "Thanks, Kirito."

"No problem," Kirito responded as Ichigo selected the «Zanjutsu» skill screen.

Another screen popped up detailing the list of moves Ichigo could currently use with the «Zanjustu» skill. Two skills were currently available to him. The first was «Slant», a simple sword slash that cut diagonally though, being a sword skill allowed the move to deal more damage that a non-enhanced diagonal strike. The other was one Ichigo was intimately familiar with, having avoided it while training with Getaboushi. «Cheek Stroke» did superficial damage and had a cool down time of approximately one second. Still, the price was fair considering the movement speed bonus of 1.5x. Though a second meant a huge difference between life and death, Ichigo was confident that even if he couldn't move for that second, he could certainly react before any weapon actually hit him. This move would be good to get behind or around opponents that he wouldn't normally be able to unless he used «Shunpo». His current mastery of «Shunpo» was 1/1000, having not used it much as he leveled his way up to Level 4.

Ichigo sighed. It would be a long while before his «Shunpo» was around the speeds he could normally travel at in his Shinigami form. He supposed that he would have to use it as often as possible to level it up as quickly as possible.

"Something the matter, Ichigo?" Kirito asked, having finished instructing a player in the proper use of a «One-Handed Straight Sword» skill.

"No, nothing. I'm just getting ready to try a skill," Ichigo replied as he took a stance in which his non-dominant foot was ahead of his dominant foot. His sword was on his left hip, gripped by his right hand.

He breathed in slowly and let loose that same breath before he pushed with his right foot. His sword glowed with a bluish-white tint as he ran a fair distance which left Kirito and Klein gaping in disbelief at the distance he quickly covered. It was impressive for a beginner. With his right hand, he lifted his sword, slicing through the air, until his sword was fully raised and held in place by his arm. That was the «Cheek Stroke» skill, only capable of dealing superficial wounds, with a cool down cost of one second, and a movement bonus of 1.5x.

A second later, he turned around and walked back to Kirito and Klein.

"Wow, I didn't know that there was a skill so early in the game that could let you move that fast," Kirito breathed.

"Yeah, that was the «Cheek Stroke» skill. It has a 1.5x movement bonus so I'm a lot faster than I normally am," Ichigo said, sheathing his sword in the strap across his back.

"Not bad at all, Ichigo," Klein gave him a thumbs up. "So I guess that means you'll be using a sword instead of magic?"

Ichigo shot him a quizzical glance. "Why wouldn't I use both?"

"Well," Kirito began. "In typical RPGs or Role Playing Games, the main classes can be divided into melee, magic, and ranged combat. It takes a lot of effort to level up just one class. I mean, it's possible to level up two or even all three at once but you'll be a lot weaker in the end. Lets say you're level 50 and you train both magic and melee. Essentially, you would be level 25 in both melee and magic for a grand total of level 50. You would be a lot weaker against someone who is level 50 and trained only in melee or or only in magic."

Ichigo frowned. _Chibi Getaboushi basically told me to train up my «Magic». But he also gave me the «Zanjutsu» skill. Did he want me to choose between one of them? But why go through all that trouble then? I think I'll stick with both of them. I guess this means I'll have to train twice as hard as everyone else if I want to keep up_.

"I'm sticking with both of them," Ichigo told the two of them. "I'll just have to train twice as hard as everyone else then."

From the tone of his voice, both Kirito and Klein believed he could actually make it work.

~Bleach/SAO A1 Ch1~

**So, I was rewatching the first season of SAO (haven't watched the second season yet since I'm waiting for it to finish so I can have an SAO marathon one weekend), and I thought, I'd like to write another SAO fic. Then, I thought about Kisuke and how it would be easy for him to hack into the «Cardinal» system and change some things even if he couldn't directly interfere. And throw poor, poor Ichigo into the thick of things.**

**As you might of read, there's magic, Shunpo, Zanjutsu, and the Original Sword Skill. Hope none of you mind since it'll be there to stay. It seemed like a Kisuke-like thing to throw a wrench in someone's plans. And by someone, I mean Kayaba. Also, I really liked the fact that someone could create a sword skill if they were skilled enough so I threw that in there too.**

**I added magic, partly because of Kisuke's madness, and partly because Kayaba Akihiko said he was inspired by the game called Wizardry. It would be pretty strange of him not to add magic, even if he was tring to imitate life as closely as possible in terms of getting close with your enemy, so I had Kisuke add that hidden, buried program in the «Cardinal» system to the forefront of the game.**

**Bleach timeline has moved up. So as of November 1st, 2022, Ichigo has lost his powers for roughly 11 months, if I'm doing the math correctly. That means, according to canon, which I'll follow for this case, he has six months left before he starts regaining his reiatsu. Won't that be interesting.**

**Kirito is paired with Asuna, of course, and still keeps his dual blades since I'm of the theory that Kayaba planned who should have the dual blades in the beta and just waited a while before giving them to Kirito. Ichigo is technically faster in reaction speed, having actual experience in combat and being able to react to Lightning-Fast Tenjiro, who Soifon supposedly couldn't see but you know, this works for me. And he doesn't have a reforged Zanpakuto so no dual blades for Ichigo. **

**Pairings are up in the air for Ichigo. It can be anyone (female) of both Bleach and SAO universes. Do keep in mind that Ichigo is currently 16 at the start of SAO. Also, if you do happen to make a recommendation, please explain why the pairing would work. **

**This'll be a low priority fic and also, 10k words, woo!**

**As always,**

**Thanks for reading!**

****Edited: 10/20/14 since apparently italics don't carry on if you copy and paste. That's gonna be a huge pain later on.****


	2. Allies-in-Arms

~Bleach/SAO A1 Ch2~

November_ 7th, 2022_

...

As was the case yesterday, today, thanks to the calm weather conditions the SAO parameters were set to, was a sunny day with few clouds hanging overhead. It was a lazy day, perfect for relaxing or taking a nice, long nap underneath the shade of a tall, leafy tree.

However, there was not a single player in SAO, recently revealed as a death game, who was relaxing. To them, the artificial sun shone brightly and caused heat to come crashing down on them. Virtual sweat - who knew Kayaba Akihiko paid attention to even this tiny detail?- formed on their foreheads, dripping down their necks, sliding into their clothes, getting everywhere and showing no sign of stopping whatsoever.

And yet, not a single person complained. This was a death game. That guy with the what he claimed to be natural orange hair, had told them that they needed to fight for themselves, for their liberty if they ever wanted to liberate themselves from the death game. So, the majority of them soldiered on, killing «Frenzy Boars» and «Dire Wolves» alike, in order to gain col, the currency of the game, to buy new equipment, and experience so that they could level up and continue the good fight.

Kirito reflected upon yesterday's events. _So, I'm really in a death game, huh? It's kind of unbelievable but I won't give up- I won't ever surrender to Kayaba. I'll beat this death game! I'll survive! _

Kirito smiled as his two, newest- and only- friends in SAO came walking together, towards him.

_And I'll do it with my two friends! I'll make sure none of them die! _

"I'm telling ya, Ichigo. You could have totally added those girls to your friend chat! And then, you could have given one of their names to me!" Kirito chuckled as Klein's voice came into his range of hearing. He remembered Klein doing a similar thing to him yesterday when he had mentioned his cousin.

_I hope they're holding up. I promise Sugu, Aunt Midori, I'll come back. I don't know how long I'll be here but I will come back. And I'll stop pushing you away too, Sugu. _

"I'm not interested in those kinds of things, Klein. I'm not an opportunist. I'm just here to clear this game and save as many people as I possibly can along the way." A tiny smile threatened to form at Klein's words, causing Ichigo to draw a likeness between Klein and his friend, Keigo in terms of personality, before he ruthlessly squashed it like a bug.

Instead, he chose to greet Kirito with a raised hand. "Yo, Kirito. Sorry we're late. I'm not used to navigating the town so I got lost. Then, I met Klein and we got lost together for a while but now we're here."

"No problem," Kirito answered with a smile. "Well, ready to go?"

All three of them had agreed the previous day after Kirito and Klein had finished instructing a rather large amount of players in how to use sword skills - as Kirito had mentioned, «Magic» hadn't been in the beta test so he had no idea how exactly to instruct them in that skill- to meet up since no one really wanted to fight alone in the world and had no idea what exactly to expect.

"So where are we going first, Kirito?" Ichigo asked. "You know the most about SAO than any of us so you should lead us to where you think will the best place to go next."

"Well, I wanted to go to «Horunka Village». They have a quest there called «Secret Medicine of the Forest» whose quest reward is the greatest sword you can get on the first floor. An Anneal Blade," Kirito explained. "I mean, if that's all right with you guys. Kirito was still a little shy around people. After having spent the last four years keeping away from his sister who was actually only his cousin, he hadn't become too used to being social with people. He was, however, eager to make friends- like these two people before him whom he had considered friends since they had met up in the plains after Kayaba's speech.

"It's fine. I don't need the sword though," Ichigo waved his hand dismissively. "Oh? Why not?" Kirito asked.

"The «Zanjutsu» skill is weird. I noticed when I was familiarizing myself with menu that my sword had a level attached to it," Ichigo said.

What he said was true. He hadn't noticed before because he had been too busy killing boars and the occasional wolf at first, then convincing everyone not to panic, and later on, practicing with sword skills, but at night, he had wanted to familiarize himself with his menu so that it wouldn't be a hassle later on in the game, Ichigo had clicked on his inventory and on his sword only to realize that it had a level icon, the same level he was.

"Really?" Kirito was astonished. A level for something that wasn't a monster, a guard of a town, or a player? That was pretty strange. "Huh, I guess Kayaba Akihiko revamped the skill system a lot more than I thought he would. The original Sword Art Online was pretty good but with all these skills, it's a lot better. Of course, this is a death game now so I guess it would make sense that he adds more skills for us."

"Let's get going already!" Klein shouted, interrupting Kirito's musings. "This might be a death game but I want to go explore this world!"

Kirito grinned. "Alright but first, we should make a party if we're going to be sticking together for a while. Parties let you share experience, items, and money, and we would be able to «Switch» if we encountered a difficult monster."

"«Switch»?" Klein asked. "What's that?"

"«Switching» isn't really a skill in the system but a player created technique in the beta test." Kirito began. "Basically, in the beta test on the higher floors, monsters began adapting to techniques used against them.-"

"W-what?! Adapting to techniques?" Klein yelled.

"It's not that surprising, Klein. Humans have constantly adapted to their environment throughout history." Ichigo motioned to Kirito. "Please continue, Kirito."

"Right, so even though monsters adapt, there's a second of pause when they have to assimilate the new information. In that time, players can switch out to confuse the monsters so that it confuses what they learned. It's a small advantage but it'll be essential in the later floors of the game. Learning how to do it now, to get the timing down right, will be good practice for you guys," Kirito said, opening his menu and sending an invitation to both Klein and Ichigo to join his party.

Both of them accepted without hesitation. Kirito took a glance at the top left corner of his screen where his status and the status of his party members were now displayed.

"Whoa, Ichigo. You're level 4 already?" Kirito questioned. "That's pretty good for a beginner." "How'd you know that?" Ichigo raised an eyebrow.

"Health bars and levels of party members show in the top left corner of your screen like your own health bar," Kirito explained.

Ichigo glanced. "Oh, so the both of you are level 2?"

"Heck yeah," Klein pointed at himself. "We trained for about an hour before we were force teleported."

"Well, I noticed that there was no logout button when I was searching for it when I entered the world for the first time. At the time, I had figured that someone would eventually restore the logout button so I just decided to fight in the meantime," Ichigo told them.

"Without sword skills?" Kirito nearly shouted in astonishment. "Not using sword skills is basically the same as waving your sword around without doing any damage!"

Ichigo shrugged. "Don't forget, I had magic too."

Kirito nodded his head in realization. Klein asked, "What sort of magic spells do you have so far?"

"I have four so far. Two of them, I guess you could say, restricts the movement of my opponents and two does damage though one of them doesn't do that much damage, just sort of pushes a monster back," Ichigo answered.

"So that lightning spell you used the other day is your main damage dealing spell. Wait! You said you could restrict the movement of monsters?!" This time Kirito really did shout.

"Yes..." Ichigo trailed off, not seeing where the beta player was going with the train of thought.

"That makes killing monsters so much easier! Especially if they can't move or fight back!" Kirito's grinned as he imagined all the various ways he could apply that to monster-fighting.

"We probably shouldn't rely on it too much though," Ichigo frowned. "What if I run out of mana? I should use my magical spells sparingly unless I'm training it up."

They began walking out of the «Town of Beginnings», eager to set out to «Horunka Village» though kept talking as they walked.

"That makes sense. It would be best to save it in case of emergencies. I don't plan on using magic and I don't think Klein plans on «Magic» as a skill either," Kirito said, looking to Klein for confirmation.

"Yeah! I'm gonna be a samurai through and through. No «Magic» skill for me," Klein said proudly, attracting the attention of a level 2 «Dire Wolf» in the process.

The «Dire Wolf» had completely black fur, vicious brown eyes and a row of sharp, canine teeth. It was only two feet in height though standing on four legs allowed it better maneuverability than any two legged creature. At least, that would be the case had it not been in a virtual reality game.

"Alright, who wants to go first?" Ichigo asked the two of them.  
>"I'll go first, if that's alright with you, Klein," Kirito said, drawing his black sword from his back.<p>

"Go ahead, Kirito," Klein agreed after drawing his own curved sword in preparation for a «Switch» when Kirito called it.

Kirito moved forward cautiously. He might have been a beta tester but if Kayaba had added new things like «Magic» to the game, who was to say he couldn't slightly alter the attack patterns of «Dire Wolf» to catch an overconfident beta tester off-guard?

"Hah!" Kirito shouted as he slammed his black blade against the wolf's snout, knocking it off course when it had charged him.

Then, he activated the sword skill «Horizontal». His sword glowed blue before the system took over momentarily and he dashed forward, managing to slash the «Dire Wolf» on its right side. "Now Klein! Switch!" Klein took off with his own «Horizontal» activated, managing to slash the «Dire Wolf» on its left side. He stilled as the cool down effect of the sword skill took place. Before the «Dire Wolf» could recover, however, Kirito used another «Horizontal» to end its life.

A screen appeared before all three of them detailing how much experience and col they got from killing the «Dire Wolf».

_Well, that makes sense, _Ichigo thought, his eyes casually noting the 2 experience, 2 col, and no items that had appeared on the screen. _I didn't do any damage so I got practically nothing. If I'm more involved I'll probably get more experience, col, and items. _

"I reached level 3 with that kill so I have to put my points in my stats," Kirito informed them as they began walking once more.

Ichigo nodded. He had been surprised at first when a screen had told him that he had points to allocate upon his level up. He was even more surprised when he realized that there was only two stats he could put points in, strength (STR) and agility (AGI). STR increased the damage of attacks, obviously, but also, many weapons had an STR requirement, so STR was a definite requirement. STR also increased the total weight limit a player could carry at any given time as well as influencing by how much a player's health would increase upon level up. AGI increased movement speed by a small factor as well as assisted players in enhancing their reflexes. AGI also increased a player's attack speed, that is how fast it took them to attack normally and attack using sword skills, accuracy of an attacks, how well a player could avoid enemy attacks.

Ichigo had theorized, at the time of his first level up, that his current body state had also influenced how well he did in SAO. For example, had his reflexes dodging skills been solely dependent on the stats of the game, he would have skewered by the first boar he had faced in the game because he had been surprised at the boar's speed. However, his reflexes, honed and fine-tuned over a multitude of death matches, including going against enemies with centuries of experience and still coming out on top, were top notch. He had continued to hone his fighting skills eleven months later, even after the loss of his Shinigami powers. Even though he had been surprised at the boar's speed, his body had moved on its own accord, and had casually dodged the boar. Even his sword slashes, non-skill enhanced, had been quick and deadly.

His theory coupled with the fact that «Shunpo» would cover for any weaknesses in speed, convinced him upon a 2STR 1AGI build per level up. After all, his reflexes might have carried over to the game but his strength certainly hadn't.

"By the way, Kirito," Ichigo said aloud. "I wanted to ask you if there were any quests that would increase stat points in the game."

Kirito nodded. "A couple quests per floor but usually, only the first hundred or so people can get the reward before the quest fades. I've done a couple but I was more focused on playing the game during the beta period."

"And what about extra skill slots?" Ichigo asked. "I understand that every ten levels, a skill slot opens up but are there any quests or something similar to get additional skill slots?"

Kirito shot him an appraising look. _To ask about something like that so soon, not even a day after the game's been announced as a death game... he's pretty smart. _"I've heard of those quests. I think there's one every ten floors and only the first ten people who complete those quests get the reward. They're impossibly difficult though. Kayaba tailored those quests so that the monsters a player would have to face would be around the player's current level. You're better off doing quests that add a skill to your current skills. An extra skill."

"An extra skill? Like what?"

"«Martial Arts» for one thing, «Meditation» for another. I don't remember if there are any more in the first ten floors," Kirito replied.

_Martial Arts? Hakuda! _Ichigo realized. _That's on the second floor. I'll worry about that when I reach that floor. And meditation? Isn't that Jinzen? Damn it, Getaboushi, you're a real pain in the _

_ass for messing around in the game. I can barely tell if you added Shinigami skills and just renamed them or if you didn't do anything. _

"Damn," Ichigo sighed.

"What's wrong?" Klein asked, having just come back from defeating yet another «Dire Wolf» and leveling up to level 3.

"I just realized that I'm gonna have to put more work than I expected into this game," Ichigo said.

Kirito and Klein looked at each other in confusion before they followed Ichigo, who had attacked a level 2 «Dire Wolf» rather than continue thinking of Kisuke could have altered within the game, with a magical binding spell. The two followed up with their respective sword skills, slaying the monster. For the next six hours, the pattern continued, collecting experience, col, and items from felled monsters as they continued their path on the way to «Horunka Village».

...

"Phew," Kirito stretched his arms into the air as the three of them crossed the boundary that marked the start of «Horunka Village». A piece of adventurous, congratulating music played for a few seconds. "Yes!" Kirito raised his fist to the air. "We're the first ones here!"

"How do you know?" Klein asked, as he took in the sight of the medium sized village.

«Horunka Village» wasn't nearly as large as the «Town of Beginnings» though the attention to detail was as equally impressive as in the «Town of Beginnings». There were many one story buildings a couple two story dotting the village. Though sunset was nearing its end, the center of the village to which they had walked to within the span of minutes, was still fairly busy. Some merchants still called out their wares while others were in the various stages of packing their merchandise, getting ready to call it a day. Adults walked home from their jobs all across the village while children scurried about some still playing, and others hurrying home. All sorts of sounds filled the air- the sound of shouting merchants, the footsteps of children and adults, and the general hustle and bustle of a medium sized village.

"Did you guys hear a sound as we entered the edge of the village?" Kirito instead asked. Both Klein and Ichigo nodded their heads.

"That sounds occurs when a new town or village is entered. It means that we're the first to enter the village which means that no one has accepted the «Secret Medicine of the Forest» quest yet." Kirito explained.

Ichigo nodded his head. "Well, lets get moving then." Both Kirito and Klein gave him a strange look.

"What? Do I have something on my face?" Ichigo began running a hand on his face, wanting to rid himself of whatever dirt that had managed to get on his face.

"No, no, nothing like that," Kirito was quick to dissuade Ichigo of that notion, waving his hands in the negative. "It's just that monsters get stronger at night."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. That was new information. "They do?"

"Yeah, usually by a couple levels," Klein added. When both Kirito and Ichigo stared at him, he said, "I heard it from a couple of NPCs in the «Town of Beginnings»."

"Does that mean they give more experience?" Ichigo asked, his mind quickly calculating that he should probably train some of his skills at night if they did.

"Yeah," Kirito answered. "A lot more. On Floor 1, I think it was triple the experience since we're all considered beginners. On Floor 10, it was only double the normal experience and usually not worth it since at night, monster attack patterns become quicker and more instinctual. It's difficult to predict monster attack patterns at night."

_Triple the experience points? That would be useful. I'd probably level up faster too. My «Zanjutsu» skill is at 11/1000 but my «Magic» is only at 6/1000. And my «Shunpo» is only at 2/1000. I really have to train them up. At night would be good since I'd probably get a higher mastery level if I use my skills against tougher opponents. And I'm pretty sure that my level is tied in to what «Magic» techniques I get. Bakudo #1: Sai and Hado #1: Sho can be written off as coincidences but I don't think it's a coincidence that when I reached level 4, I obtained Bakudo #4: Hainawa and Hado #4: Byakurai. _

_This means that I won't have to worry about not learning any new spells if I don't increase my magical mastery for a while. Of course, that also means that if I don't increase my «Magic» mastery, whatever spells I do use won't do much damage against higher-leveled opponents. _

_I'll also definitely have to do something with my «Zanjutsu» skill. My sword has no durability- or rather, it has infinite durability seeing as how it has yet to break. But at the same time, my total damage output is comparatively lower considering that even though my sword is level 6, it only has the same range of attack as Kirito's and Klein's starting swords. Obviously, Kisuke made the system like that to discourage other people from choosing the «Zanjustsu» skill but damn, even now he's making everything a pain to deal with. _

_At least I'm pretty sure that Shikai and Bankai are tied into «Zanjutsu» mastery. It wouldn't make sense for it to be tied into my level. Let me think, if I consider Old Man Yamamoto's Bankai, whatever the hell it could be, at a 1000/1000 and one of the newer Captains, relatively speaking, like Toshiro or Soifon as the minimum for a Bankai... _

_Wait, wait. It's not fair to compare them to Yamamoto, no one's in his power league. Okay, how about Shunsui? Yeah, that could work. Okay, so Shunsui is 1000/1000, complete mastery of his Bankai and then one of those two as the minimum for a Bankai. I think I remember Shunsui confirming that a hundred years was all that it would take for Toshiro to be better than Shunsui- wait, where the hell am I going with this again? Fuck! _

_Screw it. I'm me, not them. I'm pretty sure Getaboushi didn't base my learning Shikai or Bankai on Toshiro or Soifon. God, I hope he didn't. RIght. I automatically got my Shikai but since I have an unreleased blade, it doesn't look like my sword with unlock its Shikai soon, that means that _

_I'll have to train up my mastery level. I remember Rukia telling me that the average Shinigami completes Shin'o Academy in six years. So maybe, 600/1000? No, that's too close to a 1000/1000/. But since I learn everything quicker anyways, then maybe half of that so 300/1000. Okay, I'll stick with the range being 300-400/1000. Then Bankai should be double that since it takes longer to learn Bankai than Shikai. Well, maybe a little more. So add a hundred. So roughly 700-800/1000 if I calculated everything right. _

_Damn it, Getaboushi, why couldn't you have just told me how to unlock Shikai and Bankai from the beginning?! _

_Oh yeah, because it wouldn't be Getaboushi if he had told me something. _

"Earth to Ichigo." While Ichigo had been neck-deep in attempting calculations to unlock his Shikai and Bankai, Kirito and Klein had stood around waiting for him to respond for a minute before deciding to get his attention by waving their hands in his face.

"Sorry, guys, just thinking about something," Ichigo apologized.

"Must have been something pretty interesting if you didn't even notice what we were doing for three minutes," Klein grinned. "Thinking about some cute girl back home?"

Ichigo snorted. "Hardly. Anyways, I want to try training against monsters in the night, if you guys don't mind. I need to use my «Magic» skill more often. We can do the quest tomorrow. Where do you guys want to meet tomorrow?"

"We could meet here," Kirito shrugged. "I mean, all we'll be doing tomorrow is killing a bunch of «Little Nepents» until one with a flower appears. They're only level 3 during the daytime so we should all be fine."

"Alright," Ichigo opened his menu and selected the option to leave the party. "I'll catch you guys here tomorrow bright and early. 8 am okay?"

"8 am? Who the heck gets up so early when they don't have to?" Klein complained.

"Me," Kirito and Ichigo said together, looking at each other, and the former grinned while the latter had a small smirk on his face.

"Fine, but I'll probably run late anyways. Lets add each other as friends so I can message you guys a better time," Klein offered, opening his menu and sending a request of friendship to both of them. Ichigo snorted in amusement.

Both of them accepted unhesitatingly. A day spent together fighting monsters and sharing dropped items and strengthen the formerly fledgling bond into a firm, if somewhat tentative friendship. Kirito then sent a friend request to Ichigo, who immediately accepted.

"See you guys tomorrow," Ichigo waved at them once before heading back out.

While he had been injured in a couple of fights within the game, none of his injuries had even brought his health into the yellow though Kirito had told him that he should consider getting the «Battle Healing» skill to recover his health. Of course, the skill required getting his health constantly down into the health zone so he was currently debating whether or not he should get it. Perhaps later when he had leveled up some more and unlocked some more skill slots.

He had also been fairly surprised when he had received his first injury in the game only to realize that he hadn't felt any pain. Kayaba Akihiko had made the game so that people wouldn't be afraid of getting hurt if they were injured in battle. Hopefully, when they all escaped the game, people wouldn't think that real life worked the same way.

The first monster Ichigo encountered on the plains outside of «Horunka Village» was, unsurprisingly a «Frenzy Boar». The only thing different about it was that it looked larger than a normal «Frenzy Boar». Its teeth were sharper, its eyes redder, and its range of detection larger as evidenced by how it detected Ichigo much further than Ichigo had believed.

"Bakudo #4: Hainawa!" Crackling yellow energy quickly formed around Ichigo's hand before it shot out in the form of a rope, rapidly wrapping itself around the charging «Frenzy Boar» four times over.

However, Ichigo failed to take into account, despite warnings by both Kirito and Klein, that «Frenzy Boars» at night were at a higher level, like all monsters, than during the day. That was the reason why Ichigo was unpleasantly surprised when the «Frenzy Boar», currently the same level as Ichigo at level 5, broke out of the spell after five seconds. A quick «Shunpo» to the left avoided a goring by the boar's enlarged tusks.

«Shunpo», at least within the game, worked peculiarly though beneficial to Ichigo. There was no stamina bar in SAO, meaning that things such as running, jumping, swimming, and how long a player could fight for depended upon the player's natural stamina. «Shunpo» worked the same way. However, the distance Ichigo could take in a single step depended upon his current mastery of the skill. Currently, he was only capable of moving with a six foot distance, the current level of his mastery of «Shunpo», 6/1000. He surmised that as his mastery increased, so would the distance he could travel in a single step.

Of course, if he had the stamina, it was more than possible to move more than once. And that was the true beauty of «Shunpo». For Ichigo, a former expert in the art of movement, it was like second nature. He had used it constantly during his time as a Shinigami once Yoruichi had taught it to him alongside his Bankai, and had only used it with increasing proficiency until his battle with Aizen, where, after defeating the bastard who fancied himself a god, he had then eventually lost his powers. But, even eleven months was not enough to erase what had become second nature to him.

He could easily use «Shunpo» hundreds of times in succession even now, which Ichigo demonstrated by then shunpoing behind the boar and unleashing his Hado #4 on the boar, three times in succesion, killing the «Frenzy Boar» and gaining three times the experience though only the usual amount of col and items.

_So, it looks like monsters the same level as me or higher, most likely, can break out quicker than monsters below my level. Shit. That'll be a pain on later floors. And boss monsters? My spells _

_won't trap them for long or do much damage. Unless my mastery of «Magic» increases, «Magic» isn't much use at this point. But if I can just get my mastery up, I'm sure it'll be useful. Guess that means what I said yesterday to Kirito and Klein. I'll just have to train more than everyone else, especially at night. _

While players could have exorbitant amounts of stamina to keep them in the fight longer, mental fortitude was another matter entirely. Most people had little mental fortitude simply because they had never experienced truly stressful situations. Typically, people with high mental fortitude were people who were in the military, people who had fought for their lives in battle. Ichigo was a person with high mental fortitude. He had fought for his life many times ranging from his very first Hollow to protect his sisters, father, and Rukia, to his final battle in Hell against Kokuto, who had kidnapped his sister Yuzu in order to get Ichigo to release him from Hell.

Stressful situations was nothing new to Ichigo. Fighting for his life was nothing new to Ichigo. The virtual reality game Kisuke had tricked him into wasn't anything special- at least, not compared to invading three dimensions, Soul Society, Hueco Mundo, and Hell, and coming out on top, fighting against supernatural beings that could reduce a city the size of Tokyo to nothing with only a few, well-placed attacks, or an actual immortal who had plotted to overthrow a god.

This virtual reality game he was stuck in, compared to his experiences, was just a drop in the ocean. And that was but one of the reasons that Ichigo could- _would _fight for hours on end without resting, _would _do whatever he needed to protect as many people as he possibly could within the game and _would _succeed in his attempts.

That, and having trained without rest for three months in the Dangai also helped.

Ichigo materialized the only item he had gotten from the «Frenzy Boar». In his hand, he held a small, rectangular crystal with green and white vertical stripes covering the entire surface area of the crystal. The crystal's name was «Replenishing Crystal» and its effect was that it would completely replenish his mana. Ichigo rolled his eyes at the color. _Geez, Getaboushi. You keeping adding things as if you think I'm gonna forget you. But it's good that you made these crystals the color of your hat. Otherwise, I might have actually forgotten that I have to kick your ass when I return. _

A chilling howl permeated the silent night. Ichigo spun around, quickly locating the source of the howl. A level 6 «Dire Wolf» slowly advanced towards him, followed by another «Dire Wolf». He grinned as he begun casting his strongest attack spell.

For monsters surrounding «Horunka Village», it was a terrible night to spawn...

_November 8th, 2022 _

It was 9am when Klein decided to finally arrive at the pre-determined meeting point. Kirito and Ichigo had chatted the hour away, the two of them exchanging information, Kirito about more things he had experienced during the beta test and Ichigo about his theories concerning magic and how effective they would be against higher levels and Boss-class monsters and about the newest crystal, the «Replenishing Crystal» as well as potions of the same name and color.

"With how you were going on about sleeping in, I would have thought that you would have slept in more, Klein," Ichigo said as his way of greeting the half-asleep man.

Kirito smiled. "Yeah, Klein. If you wanted to meet up later, we could have done that. Especially since you like you're about to fall asleep any second."

"Nah," Klein waved his hand dismissively though it was a pathetic attempt at doing so. "I just need some food and I'll wake up easily. Come on, lets go get some breakfast."

After having a tasteless breakfast and paying an amount of col that made Klein cry as he spent half of the col he had gained on the six hour journey heading towards the village they were in, the trio made their way towards an old lady's house, where the «Secret Medicine of the Forest» quest began, according to Kirito. It was a good thing that Kirito had an excellent memory when concerning SAO and had lead the way because both Klein and Ichigo had admitted aloud that they would have been lost after the first few twists and turns.

Eventually, after a half hour of walking, they arrived at a small, shabby house that looked as it could barely house two people and even then, not comfortably. Having formed a party once more, Kirito knocked on the door to the house without hesitation, Klein and Ichigo standing close behind him.

"Oh, guests? Please, do come in," the woman with kindly, motherly features said after opening the door.

"Excuse us," Kirito said politely as all three of them entered the now cramped house. Ichigo and Klein followed suit.

"Would you three like a glass of water?" The woman asked kindly. "Yes, please," Kirito answered her confidently.

The old woman soon left and then, the three of them all heard a coughing sound coming from another room.

Knowing from whom it had come from because Kirito had explained the entire quest over breakfast, Klein and Ichigo waited for the woman to speak so that Kirito could speak. After all, it was only Kirito who wanted the reward sword, «Anneal Blade». So, they had decided over breakfast to let him do all the talking.

"What's that coughing noise?" Kirito asked the woman as she returned with three glasses of water.

"My apologies for not having any food," the mother said as she gave the three their glasses of water. "My daughter is sick with a severe illness that cannot be cured even with medicine from the merchants. She requires a special type of ingredient if my daughter is to be cured. An ovule from the terrible monster called the «Little Nepent». If you bring an ovule from the «Little Nepent», I will give you a sword handed down for generations in my family. Will you please save my little girl?"

A quest message appeared before Kirito, the leader of the party, asking him to accept or deny the quest. Immediately upon accepting the quest, the woman spoke. "You will find «Little Nepents» to the west of here, in the forest. Good luck, adventurers, and please, come back soon."

"That was strange," Ichigo commented after they had left the woman's house and walked west, to the edge of town.

"I agree," Klein said. "How so?" Kirito asked.

"The woman, she showed no emotion when talking about her daughter's sickness," Ichigo answered.

"Oh yeah, I guess the NPC adapting mechanism was reset," Kirito muttered mostly to himself.

"NPC adapting mechanism?" Ichigo asked.

"Yeah, in the beginning, when you talk to most NPCs they won't really show emotion because they don't know how to," Kirito explained. "But once more players start talking to NPCs, they'll start learning how to display more emotions. It took about two weeks with a thousand players in the beta test but with twenty thousand players stuck in the game, we'll probably start seeing more emotions within the next few days."

"I hope so," Klein shuddered. "That was just plain creepy."

_Kind of reminded me of Nemu. _

The forest wasn't really much of a forest. It was more like a gathering of a couple hundred trees stretching the entire length of the village. There was a small buffer of grass that acted as the border between the village and the tree-line. There was only one type of monster that lived in the miniature forest. The «Little Nepent».

«Little Nepents» weren't little at all as Klein and Ichigo soon found out when the encountered a plant-like creature moving on what appeared to be its roots. It had a leafy stem with a couple large leaves, a bulbous, red and white head, no eyes, and a mouth with fully visible teeth with some sort of strange, red liquid dripping down its mouth. Despite its tall figure, being around a meter and a half in height, it was level 3 and easily dealt with by a combination of Bakudo #4: Hainawa, two uses of the «Horizontal» sword skill and a Hado #4: Byakurai.

"Your lightning spell looks a lot stronger than it did two days ago," Kirito casually observed as they trudged forward into the trees, searching for a «Little Nepent» with a flower on its head.

"Well, my «Magic» mastery doubled in the two hours I spent fighting monsters last night," Ichigo responded as he Klein teamed together to kill a third «Little Nepent» in the past five minutes they had been walking among the trees.

"Two hours? You must have gotten a ton of «Replenishing Crystals!" Klein exclaimed.

Ichigo shrugged as jumped backwards, avoiding being hit by a «Little Nepent's» vine. Kirito took the chance to attack the «Little Nepent» from behind with a «Horizontal» sword skill which Klein followed up by using a «Vertical», a slash of the sword going from up to down. The «Little Nepent» shattered into polygons.

"You could say that," Ichigo spoke, taking the opportunity of having no enemies in the area to regenerate what little mana he could. It wasn't exactly a skill but so long as a spell wasn't being cast, the mana would slightly regenerate overtime. Health was the same but that could be turned into the skill «Battle Healing».

As more «Little Nepents» discovered the party and homed in on their location, all three members quit talking and focused on fighting the «Little Nepents», Klein and Kirito relying on their starting swords, and Ichigo too, after having used up half of his mana.

...

"Man," Kirito said as they headed back to the mother's house. "That was a close one, Klein. If you had killed that «Little Nepent» with the fruit on its head, we would have been swarmed with nearly a hundred of those monsters. Good thing Ichigo managed to intercept your sword in time." Kirito glanced at Ichigo slyly. "Though, even with the «Sprint» skill, at this floor, I didn't think it was possible to move that fast. I didn't even see you move."

Ichigo rolled his eyes and sighed. Ichigo predicted that he would always see reminders of Kisuke for a long time to come if that description he had written was anything to go by. "If you wanted to know, just ask. Look up «Shunpo» in your skill screen."

Both Kirito and Klein looked the skill up.

_Shunpo: The Art of Fast Movement. The Goddess of the Flash, the fastest person in three dimensions, is said to use this technique to hit poor businessmen on the head when they've done nothing wrong but admire the female form. Shunpo can be defined by asking one, very important question. How much of a distance can be covered in a single step? If an inexperienced player were to use this skill more than once in succession, they would break their legs within five steps. _

"Sounds dangerous even if the description is a little weird," Kirito judged. "Useful but unless you could cover the entire area of a boss room in a single step, you run the risk of blowing out your legs starting from the second step."

"It saved Klein from killing that «Little Nepent» with a fruit on its head, didn't it? Besides you can't be an inexperienced player if you train with «Shunpo» on a daily basis," Ichigo said.

Klein grinned. "I don't think I'd want to learn it but I'm definitely appreciative of the skill." Kirito knocked on the door of the house.  
>The same woman opened the door, recognizing the trio, and quickly ushering them all in.<p>

"Do you have the ovule?" Much to their collective surprise, the woman actually showed anticipation in her expression.

"H-here you go," Kirito stuttered slightly at the surprise of seeing emotion. He handed the ovule over and the woman disappeared, soon returning with a plain, gray sword.

_Quest Complete! Your party has successfully completed the quest, «Secret Medicine of the Forest» and has gained the following rewards. One «Anneal Blade», 1150 experience each, and 1000 col each. Two «Healing Potions» and one «Replenishing Potion» have been added to each of your inventories. _

A chiming sound rang as both Kirito and Klein reached level 6, having reached level 5 in the middle of hunting «Little Nepents». They immediately allotted the points they earned from leveling up to either their STR stat or AGI stat. The quest had raised Ichigo's experience a little over three-quarters of the way to level at 8.

"Where should we go next now that you've gotten your fancy, new blade, Kirito?" Klein grinned as he asked his question, honestly curious about what Kirito had in mind.

"I was thinking that we could try to find the dungeon and clear the «Field Boss»," Kirito answered after switching swords and strapping his new «Anneal Blade» across his back. "It probably won't be in the same place considering all the changes Kayaba Akihiko made so it'll probably be difficult to find but that's okay since we need to level up anyways."

"What's a «Field Boss»?" Klein asked. Ichigo listened in to the response as well, figuring it would be important to know.

"A «Field Boss»," Kirito began, "is a monster guarding the entrance to the dungeon. Usually, they have two bars of health and are stronger than normal monsters outside a dungeon while somewhat the same when compared to monsters within the dungeon. «Floor Bosses» are monsters within the dungeon that guard the entrance to the next floor. They have four bars of health and are the strongest monsters of a floor."

"Good to know," Ichigo said. "Where should we head next now?"

"I'd like to first make sure that my assumption is correct. That means we're going to have to cross most of the land to go east, where the dungeon was located in the beta test. It'd be a good idea to stock up on potions and food. There aren't too many villages if we cut straight across," Kirito said.

Ichigo nodded. "Sounds as good as any plan. Klein, you might want to get a better sword now that you're a higher level."

"Understood," Klein waved as he separated from them. He had a sword to find.

Klein sighed miserably as trudged down a stone path that led to the center of the village. Only two days after Kayaba Akihiko had announced that SAO was now a death game and he already felt as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He had planned on entering the game with some friends but none of them had been able to make the first few hours of the launch of SAO and by the time they could, they had all already known about how no one could log out from SAO and so, hadn't entered the game.

Klein, despite all his joking and cheer, hadn't quite been able to rid himself of the resentment he had initially felt for his friends but he had soon quashed that feeling to nothingness. It was petty of him to do so. Instead, he had felt relieved that they were all safe. He wouldn't wish this game upon anyone.

As soon as Kayaba Akihiko had finished his speech, he had felt himself sinking into depression like the thousands of other players in the colosseum. He had felt slightly less depressed when Ichigo had told them all not to panic, better when he had hung out with both Kirito and Ichigo, and not at all depressed any longer when they had traveled together through the now perilous world.

_No more depression for me! I'll stick with my friends, make some more, and help everyone get out of this crazy game! _

He perked up after cheering himself up and immediately sped into a shop when he spotted a rather interesting looking sword in the display.

...

_November 22nd, 2022 _

"W-what?" Kirito cried out in disbelief. "Someone got here before us?!"

After two weeks of traveling, training, and taking up various, short length quests for experience, col, and decent enough items, the trio- Klein, Kirito, and Ichigo, had finally arrived where the dungeon of the first floor would have been located in the beta test. Much to Kirito's surprise, there was a clearing where the «Field Boss» would have been, had someone not already come and defeated it.

"Man, and «Field Bosses» usually have some pretty high quality stuff too," Kirito sighed in disappointment. _Ah well, maybe I'll land the Last Attack on the «Floor Boss» and get a rare item. _

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders neutrally. He really didn't care on way or another if he got a rare item or not. He had his sword which leveled up when he did whether he did. His «Magic» skill was among the strongest in the game according to rumors from the last town they had been in two days ago. Most other people could only conjure fireballs, summon sparks of lightning, throw some dirt around though it was mostly used a defensive means, cut through things with a wind spell, or a water spell that healed a player. Apparently, in the game «Magic» spells were randomized depending on the player. And of course, his «Shunpo» allowed him to avoid most attacks.

He wasn't in any desperate need for rare items. What he really wanted was the «Martial Arts» skill. And the «Meditation» skill. He had tried preforming Jinzen but had no luck in contacting the virtual aspect of his spirits. Of course, he doubted that Kisuke would do that especially since Ichigo was pretty sure that Kisuke had no clue what Zangetsu or Shiro looked like. But he would have to learn the name of his virtual sword at some point so Ichigo's current theory was that «Meditation» would hold the key. Or maybe Kisuke had simply given him Shikai and Bankai at set mastery levels. Ichigo had had much time to think about it but those two ended up being the main theories.

Klein was only somewhat disappointed at not being able to fight the «Field Boss». Their teamwork had improved by leaps and bounds over the past two week. Ichigo had kept his level edge up until two days ago, when monsters had begun giving him little to no experience when he had reached level 10. He and Kirito had eagerly caught up to his level after then though Ichigo still retained a greater mastery of all his skills. Kirito had failed to mention that there was an experience curve per floor. Once a player had reached a particular level, the experience given by monsters sharply dropped. From then on, only «Field Bosses» and «Floor Bosses» would give the same amount of experience. Klein had wanted to show off his newest attack and how much damage he could do with his newest sword he had bought only two days ago. _Oh well, _Klein sighed. _Maybe in the dungeon. _

Just as they had begun heading inside the dungeon, a party came out. The party that exited the dungeon was a full party comprised of six people and led by a man with blue hair and long bangs, blue eyes, and wearing what looked like fair quality leather armor a blue, long-sleeved shirt and black pants. The rest of the party wore similar gear and looked more worn out and exhausted than the leader.

A moment of silence occurred as the two parties stared at each other. Then, a member of the other party pointed to Ichigo and shouted, "Ah! It's Carrot-top-sama!"

Ichigo clenched his hand into a fist. "You want me to kick your ass, ya bastard?!"

Several minutes later, all nine people were gathered in a circle in the clearing. Even though the «Field Boss» was defeated, monsters still avoided the clearing as if the «Field Boss» were still alive. Kayaba Akihiko had designed it so that players could rest before entering the dungeon. According to Kirito, the first safe bases within a dungeon were levels above.

Dungeons were split into two sub-catergories: Labyrinths and sub-dungeons. Labyrinths held the strongest monsters of a Floor and comprised of several levels stacked on top of one another. Labyrinths were terribly difficult to navigate without getting lost. Thankfully, a mapping feature existed in the menu that automatically mapped a level of a dungeon that a player had explored. Kirito had told Klein and Ichigo that the first floor dungeon had twenty levels in the beta test and that it had taken a couple days to explore it all and discover the room of the «Floor Boss».

Sub-dungeons were dungeons that weren't as important as Labyrinths. They didn't have any exits leading to the next floor so it was likely that people focused on clearing the game wouldn't bother with these. Sub-dungeons held «Dungeon Bosses» not unrelated to how a «Floor Boss» would be waiting at the highest level of a dungeon. «Dungeon Bosses», according to the beta tester, usually had either two or three bars of health, gave massive experience also unaffected by the level curve, uncommon and rare items, and, if a player was very lucky, «Corridor Crystals», a type of crystal in SAO that could teleport up to a full party's worth of people to any location known by the user of that crystal. «Dungeon Bosses» were also much less difficult to defeat than a «Floor Boss» though tougher than a «Field Boss».

"So, you guys found the «Floor Boss», huh?" Kirito asked.  
>A look shared among all the party members told he, Ichigo, and Klein, all they needed to know.<p>

"Yeah," the blue haired man who had introduced himself as Diavel finally said. "We were planning on organizing a meeting in about a week so that we could convince as many as the high-leveled players as possible to come help out and kill the boss."

"Have you scouted the boss yet?" Kirito questioned. Ichigo and Klein were more than happy to let the most experienced user of the three to ask the questions though Ichigo and Klein both listened closely.

"Not yet but if you don't know, a player by the name of Argo the Rat recently created a guide for all the new players in the game based off the experiences of several beta testers," Diavel said, materializing said guide and handing it to Ichigo. Ichigo accepted with a nod. "It's free and available at any NPC store."

"So,"Kirito said casually as Ichigo read the guide like a speed demon. "I assume you also contributed to the guide, right Diavel?"

Diavel adopted a shocked expression for a moment, shared by all his party members. He chuckled softly. "I guess it was foolish of me to think that I could get anything past one of the strongest players in the beta test. If you don't mind me asking, how'd you know?"

"You called her Argo the Rat but 'the Rat' is only her moniker. Argo is her name," Kirito explained. "How did you know I was a beta tester?"

"Every beta tester knows of the player who always took the Last Attack Bonus in each Floor, Kirito," Diavel laughed.

"Heh," Kirito scratched the back of his head, blushing slightly. "Yeah, that would do it. I didn't even change my name, after all."

"Interesting but you've taught us all that and more, Kirito," Ichigo said as he tossed the guide to Klein, who reluctantly began reading as a refresher course on SAO.

"You read it all, already?" Kirito asked, astonished at his reading speed.

"Yeah. Let's just say it's an acquired skill." In between slaying Hollows and rescuing people, the entire past year, for Ichigo, had left little time for to study for tests and exams. So, he learned how to speed read so that he could spent more time killing Hollows. School wasn't particularly difficult for him; he had managed to rank within the top 20 in his school in academics.

Kirito shrugged his shoulders in reply. "I think that someone should scout out the «Floor Boss». If Kayaba Akihiko could so something like add «Magic» to the game, then it's easily possible that he could change something about the «Floor Boss».

"We can give you the map data for the «Floor Boss's» room so you guys can scout it out," Diavel said as he opened his menu and sent the information to Kirito. Diavel gave his fellow beta tester a grin. "Try not fight the boss until after we've assembled a full clearing party."

"Yeah, yeah," Kirito laughed, waving a hand dismissively. "I'll try not to take the Last Attack Bonus if I can help it."

The two of them shared a laugh at that.

Most players in SAO could recognized most beta testers on sight because many of those beta testers had helped them of their own volition. Because of that man with the carrot top hair- Ichigo vehemently complained and logically pointed out that carrot tops were in fact green- beta testers had been motivated to help out as many people as they could so that as many players as possible could survive in the game. The majority of players believed in one, single, common enemy. Kayaba Akihiko. Sure, there were dissenters who complained that beta testers were cheaters for having knowledge about the game they didn't have and yes, there were some beta testers who hadn't helped beginning players, but both parties were far and few in between. Certainly not enough to consider the beta testers, the majority of whom had helped many players, an enemy in the game. In the minds of thousands of players, the only true enemy all players had was Kayaba Akihiko.

"I guess we should get a move on if we plan on reaching a safe area before nightfall," Kirito said as he stood up. Even in dungeons, monsters grew stronger at night.

Diavel eyed Ichigo as the party of three said their farewells and departed to within the dungeon. He hadn't told the orange haired man what he had been planning ever since he had laid eyes on him. Diavel planned on spreading rumors that the orange haired man would be attending the meeting. That would surely get more people to come to the boss battle meeting in a week's time. _I hope he doesn't mind too much. _

That single thought was proof enough that Diavel knew very little about Ichigo. ...

Klein was getting tired of fighting these Kobold grunts. It was annoying, tedious, and tiresome. He wasn't sure how Ichigo and Kirito could kill Kobolds for so long without complaining about something whether it be about how Kobold attack patters offered no variety or how only Kobolds lived in this particular dungeon. He couldn't know about how SAO was like a home to Kirito, an escape from reality that he had wanted ever since finding out the person he had believed to be his little sister was actually his younger cousin. That Kirito had distanced himself from his family because he had felt like a stranger inside his aunt's home and had turned to games and eventually, virtual reality as an escape from reality. Klein couldn't fathom that Ichigo had spent countless hours killing Hollows and dealing with all sorts of supernatural threats. That Ichigo had this never-ending, indomitable desire to protect- whether it be kidnapped family or newfound friends that he made only two weeks prior. That he would protect any and all people precious to him- even at the cost of his own life.

But Klein soldiered on anyways, continuing to kill Kobolds without verbal complaint because of the strong bonds he had created with his friends, Kirito and Ichigo. Though they didn't talk much about their personal lives- and neither did Klein- it had felt as if he had known them forever. Whether it was him talking about the ideal girlfriend he'd like to meet, Kirito talking about SAO in general, or Ichigo, who didn't talk too much but instead listened intently and offered feedback about how Klein would never find that perfect girl because all people were flawed and that instead he should find a girl who'd like him for him and stick with her because someone like her would never come again or offer theories about the general workings of SAO he had observed during fighting.

And wasn't that something strange! Despite Ichigo claiming he had little knowledge about games in general, he had easily come up with half a dozen theories each time Kirito had talked about some of his own theories of SAO. It went over Klein's head but he could easily surmise that Ichigo was some sort of battle-genius or, at the very least, some sort of person who could adapt to any situation on the fly- a genius in general. A battle-genius certainly made sense considering the couple of hints Ichigo had left that told Klein- and Kirito for that matter- that Ichigo had been trained in some sort of sword style and close combat style though Klein, having absolutely no knowledge of trained fighting, had no clue what sort of style the orange haired man might use.

And sometimes- it didn't happen often, usually while nursing a non-alcoholic drink- he would catch Ichigo staring intently out the nearest window, eyes looking far older than his age of sixteen, according to what the orange haired man had told them, as if he had been through so many experiences, much of them hardening and terribly difficult, reminiscing about the past- though Klein believed that it was a different sort of past than simply reality- and he would only snap out of it when someone got his attention. It was unnerving, a look that Klein had only seen a couple times in his great-grandfather's eyes, who was a World War 2 veteran.

Klein was a mostly cheerful person, pleasant to be around for the most part, and whose most annoying habit was introducing himself to any pretty girl- single or otherwise- but, he was pretty observant. There was something... off about Ichigo, not wrong, simply off. Ichigo hadn't ever panicked, not when Kayaba Akihiko announced had announced SAO to be a death game and not when facing monsters- though that last part could be attributed to his knowledge of how to use swords and unarmed combat. It was just strange to see someone as young as Ichigo to not panic at the thought of a life and death battle. As if he had been in one before.

But Klein wouldn't pry. If Ichigo didn't want to share, that was fine with him. Friends supported one another, whether they knew why they were supporting a friend or not. And Klein considered Ichigo one of his closest friends in the game, right next to Kirito.

"Finally," Klein spoke, breaking himself out of his own thoughts. "I'm pretty sure this is the boss room, right?"

They had been in the dungeons for two days now, mostly because of all the Kobold monsters that had continuously spawned. They had actually had to turn back once because they hadn't wanted to fight monsters during the night while not knowing if they would stumble across another safe zone. Diavel hadn't mapped much of the area on some of the levels. His map guide had showed only the most direct route to the boss room. Some of it was mapped since it was a trial and error kind of thing but most of it was unexplored since it appeared that Kayaba hadn't changed most of the route to the boss room.

The door to the boss room was ornate, made of silver and covering in designs of Kobolds killing other Kobolds. It was double-doored and tall, four or five times taller than Ichigo and three times as thick as all three of them standing side by side.

"Yeah," Kirito said as he eyed the door speculatively and took out a teleporting crystal he had managed to acquire on their two week excursion towards the dungeon. His «Anneal Blade +6» was held in his dominant, right hand. "Keep a «Teleport Crystal» out. The «Floor Boss» could attack at any given moment. Remember, we're not fighting the monster by ourselves but

scouting. Try to take into account the amount of guards with the boss and what kind of weapons the boss has."

Ichigo nodded. "You got it. Klein?"

"I know already," Klein said. "Open the door." Slowly, Kirito pushed the doors open.

...

_November 29th, 2022 _

Kirito, Klein, and Ichigo were the last ones to arrive at the meeting in «Tolbana», the second largest town on the first floor which also housed a smaller version of the colosseum where Diavel had told them the meeting would take place. They didn't have any particular reason for being later- unless Klein scarfing down cream from the «Cows' Counterattack» quest counted. According to Klein, who had ate it all before Kirito and Ichigo had a chance to try it, it was so good that it was worth missing the boss battle meeting for. Of course, once Ichigo had smacked him upside the head for being so stupid, Klein had reluctantly followed them.

They sat a distance away from the rest of the surprisingly many people who had gathered, on the higher steps of the mini-colosseum. Once Diavel made eye contact with the trio, he began the meeting.

"Thank you all for coming here today," the charismatic, blue-haired man said with a smile. "I'm Diavel and in this world, I like to think of myself as a knight."

He earned several laughs since there was no job classification system and it eased the tension of why they had all come here.

"Now, last week, my party and I discovered the boss room," Diavel said, turning serious.

Despite knowing the reason for the meeting in the first place, to hear it said by the host of the meeting himself, it earned several gasps from the audience.

"I plan on beating the boss to help everyone who is currently still in the «Town of Beginnings» and hasn't moved from there because they're afraid of the game that this game is beatable!" Diavel declared passionately. "I want to be like that orange haired man who inspired me to help protect everyone I possibly could in this game! But, I can't beat the boss alone. No one can. I need all of your help to protect everyone who can't protect themselves and everyone who needs to be shown that this game _is not unbeatable!_"

Clapping filled the stadium and cheers roared across the town for Diabel and his rousing speech to help everyone.

"Alright everyone, settle down," Diavel made a lowering motion with his hands. "Now, we need eight parties of six. We want to fill up each and every party so if you're a solo player, please join a party that still needs people. Later on, once we have eight parties ready, we'll meet here at 3

pm to discuss tactics. A party that took it upon themselves to scout the boss will inform us of their findings of their scouting raid. Please stick around town because we do plan on taking on the boss tomorrow. Please stock up on potions and crystals and get the best equipment you can possibly get your hands on because we plan on leaving from the East Gate at 10 am tomorrow. Thank you and hopefully I see many of you at 3."

People began forming parties almost immediately following Diavel's advice. Complete parties were easily created within minutes of the end of the meeting. Soon enough, there were only four people remaining. Ichigo, Kirito, and Klein, and some person wearing a red cloak sitting on the opposite side of the colosseum at their height.

"I guess we should go invite her to our party since all the other parties are full," Klein said.

"How do you know that person's a girl?" Kirito asked curiously.

"His pervert senses are telling him it's a girl," Ichigo answered him.

Kirito burst out laughing after realizing what he had just heard and seeing Klein's gaping mouth.

"Why don't you go invite her, Kirito," Ichigo stood up and narrowed his eyes at Klein. "While I teach Klein here how to behave when in a girl's presence."

Kirito grinned at Klein's horror stricken expression, believing wholeheartedly that he knew exactly what Klein was thinking. _Lessons how to act in front of a girl? From the guy who's always scowling? What kind of nightmare am I living in? _

"Hey," Kirito raised a hand, waving at the cloaked figure in greeting. "My friends and I noticed that you were alone. You can join our party if you want."

The girl wearing the red cloak raised her head slightly at him. Kirito couldn't quite make out her features except for pale skin and an unsmiling yet oddly attractive pair of lips. "I accept."

"Great," Kirito sent a request to join his party to the girl. "Just click the accept button."

The girl did so and Kirito was rewarded with the name and health bar of the girl appearing in the upper left of his screen. He peered intently at the name. "Asuna?"

Though Kirito couldn't see her expression, her voice told him of her surprise. "How did you know my name?" She instinctually gripped the handle of her rapier, which was hung to her hip.

"Your name appears on the top left corner of your view when you join a party. All the names of party members appear there," Kirito explained, putting one hand on his chest as Asuna looked to the top left corner of her screen. "I'm Kirito. Come on, I'll introduce you to the other two members of the party."

Kirito led the way back to Ichigo and Klein, the latter of whom held his fingers in his ears in order to blot out anything that Ichigo said. He quickly got his fingers out of his ears when he spotted the girl wearing a red cloak following Kirito.

Klein quickly moved past Kirito, dodging an attempt to grab him by the waist, and stood firmly before Asuna. He nervously bowed his head, stuttering, "H-hello! I-I'm Klein, 22, and currently looking for a girlfriend! Will you-"

Klein's well rehearsed speech was ended prematurely by a bop on his from Ichigo which sent the redhead crashing to the floor. "Ignore him. I'm Ichigo. That's Klein. You're Asuna, right?"

For the first time since meeting her, Kirito caught a good look of her from underneath her cloak. It was only a quick glance- light hazel eyes, a mixture of brownish-orange hair that looked surprisingly good on her, a pretty face all in all- before astonishingly, Asuna threw her arms around Ichigo and began quietly sobbing in his chest. "S-Savior! Y-you really did come! T-thank you for everything!"

Ichigo stood rigid. He had little experience dealing with these kinds of situations. The last time a girl had cried near him and he had given comfort to her... _I guess that would be just after mom died when both Yuzu and Karin came to me and just cried for hours. Spectacular... _

Slowly, the memories of comforting his sisters after his mom's death came back to him. Treating her as if she were one of his sisters, he cautiously embraced her, causing her crying to intensify though thankfully, much of the noise was muffled by his shirt. He tried using soothing words to calm her down though years of distancing himself ever so slightly from his sisters and his external gruffness he typically portrayed to the world seeped in his words.

"Shh, it's okay...Seriously, shut the hell up with your waterworks already! Good, that's better. Now listen, I don't know why you decided I'm the one you could cry on and I only understand a little of why you called me Savior- and you better not call me that again because I'm no savior- but first, you need to let go because you're hugging a stranger and it's awkward enough as it is... Good. Now, I understand that a lot of people bottled up their emotions but you can't go crying on the first person you see."

Reluctantly, Asuna disengaged herself from the orange haired man she had come to admire over the past three weeks despite having only met him once along with thousands of other people when he had told them all to not despair and never in person until now. Her cloak had dropped to the floor when she had moved to hug him and slowly, she dropped to the floor, taking her sweet time to collect the dropped item and compose herself.

"Sorry," Asuna said as she slowly stood up. "It's just-"  
>Ichigo held up a hand to stop her. "It's fine. Don't worry about it." "O-okay," she said quietly.<p>

Ichigo had experienced similar reactions from other girls. Rukia, when she thought he had been fast asleep in one of the beds of the Fourth Division shortly after collapsing from exhaustion soon after Aizen had revealed himself to be a traitor. Tears had dripped from her eyes on to his face- _and man, they got in my mouth too- _and she had kissed him on the cheek. Luckily, he hadn't had to deal with it since he was asleep and just kept treating her as if nothing had happened. Orihime was another, in between the time they had left the dome of Las Noches after his fight with Ulquiorra but before he intervened in the fight against Yammy. She had hugged him and cried as well.

"Anyways, let's get going. We can do a quest or two and get used to your fighting style and you to ours," Ichigo changed the topic.

"I told you every girl wanted to know you," Klein grumbled as he recovered from the blow Ichigo had dealt him. "Lucky man."

A smile spread across Asuna's face as she heard the good natured bickering among the three of them. "Come on, I know a quest we can do," Asuna heard herself say. "Follow me, Carrot-Top Savior!"

A moment of silence passed as Asuna began walking away. Klein broke first. He roared in laughter, falling to the ground in the process not even three seconds after he had heard the moniker. Kirito, at least, had the decency to hold for five seconds before he too dissolved into laughter.

_"What the hell did you just call me?!" _

~Bleach/SAO A1 Ch2~

**A/N: This was a pain to get the chapter with italics on. Eventually, I just emailed it and posted it from a computer.**

**Let's see, I don't really want to answer questions because I could inadverdently give some plot details away. A couple of you had interesting ideas, especially HolyKnight5, who actually managed to guess what I planned on doing with one of his theories. **

**Still open to pairings. Not really interested in writing Rukia or Orihime in as the pairing.**

**What else? Right, what Asuna has been up to in the three weeks will likely be explained next chapter. As well as the First Floor Boss Battle (I wonder who that could be?). **

**I'll probably post levels and stats and character information next chapter since it marks the end of the first floor. Of course, I can tell you that all three of them are level 10.**

**Interesting topics I want to point out simply because it caught my attention: I was looking for something to watch on Netflix when I stumbled upon a recently added (I think) anime. Freezing. I had actually intended to do one for sometime because I remember watching Freezing a few years ago (and only the first season). I think I want to do a crossover with that anime as well (a seperate story of course). I've actually been planning it for a while though with a reincarnated Ulquiorra. Yeah, just thought I'd bring that up. Of course, it might be a while considering I need to rewatch Freezing.**

**By the way, I do enjoy constructive criticism such as if I should etch out the personalities of characters more and so on.**

**As always,**

**Thanks for reading!**


	3. A First Date? and the First Boss

~Bleach SAO A1 Ch3~

Bored.

A mirthless laugh escaped her closed lips as she walked the paved walkway of the ‹‹Town of Beginnings›› to the plains outside, following a procession of scared, timid players wanting to learn how to play– the death game– Sword Art Online properly so that they had a better chance of surviving the death game.

A shiver ran throughout her spine as she thought about what had happened only a few minutes ago. A red cloaked man– though she now knew that he was actually the creator of the game, Kayaba Akihiko– had declared this to be a death game. A game where they would have three options. Clear the game, die, or do nothing. She wasn't sure what exactly option she would choose– she was still in shock though it was now fading away the closer she got to the field outside the town.

The corner of her lips curled upwards ever so slightly as she thought about the scowling, orange haired man that had tried to life the spirits of all twenty thousand of them. He had a little trouble in the beginning but he was definitely courageous to speak to twenty thousand people– who were all on the verge of panicking– and try to calm them all down. What was strange was the he succeeded with his strange sense of humor– really, who had natural orange hair?— and his passionate speech of not giving in to despair and to fight back against the cruel injustice that had been done to them. Perhaps he could have put it more... eloquently but his hurried words were actually more effective since it subconsciously reminded everyone that he was just another player like the rest of them.

"_Listen up_."

Despite the quiet murmur among the twenty or twenty-five players who gathered around the beta tester like flies to honey, they instantly quieted at the authoritative tone in which the beta tester spoke. The beta tester spoke with a tone reminiscent of a military general, one that wasn't used to being disobeyed and would not brook any insubordination.

"If any of you are perverts and followed me to get to know me better, leave now. I'm not interested in any of you."

Now, Asuna's hazel eyes trailed upwards from their resting position on the ground where she took a good look at the beta tester in question.

She was an older woman, at least, older than her, but only by a few years, probably, in Asuna's opinion, in her late teens or early twenties. She had the beauty of an older woman too, with slightly sharp angles as opposed to rounded but that only further accentuated her features. She had turquoise colored eyes whose color was further brought out was by the oval shaped, red-rimmed glasses that sat squarely on her nose. Her hair color was black and brought into a braided ponytail while bangs covered most of her forehead. The strangest thing about the beta tester was that she was wearing a middle school uniform– a sailor fuku– that had long sleeves, a teal green collar and matching pleated miniskirt, and a pink neckerchief. Her outfit was especially weird when considering that everyone else—including herself— wore the starting clothes given by the system when a player logged in for the first time.

To Asuna's surprise, a couple of players– she noticed now that everyone but she and the beta tester were males— actually walked away to some other nearby group.

"Good, now that that's settled, I'll start teaching you all the basics of ‹‹Sword Skills››. I don't know anything about the ‹‹Magic›› skill so if any of you want to be a wizard, I can't help you."

As the day went by and the guys were all sent on their way after getting the basics of ‹‹Sword Skills›› down, the beta tester—who still hadn't revealed her name— finally came to her.

"Dragonfly," the beta tester—Dragonfly— introduced herself.

"A-Asuna," she answered back cautiously.

A single corner of Dragonfly's lips curled upwards in pleasure. "Nice to meet ya. Hope you don't mind that I saved you for last. We girls gotta stick together, don't ya think?"

"Uh...," Asuna's mind was a whirlwind of confusion. Did she somehow make her first friend in the game? "Yes?"

This time, Dragonfly grinned. "Great, so let me just add you to my Friend's List really quick and then we can get started."

A message popped up in front of Asuna.

Will you accept Dragonfly as your friend?

Asuna hesitantly selected yes.

And that was the start of one of the strangest friendships/partnerships she had ever had in her entire life filled with comments about the size of tools of passing male players, whether or not larger weapons meant that male players were compensating for something, perverted innuendos, the best kind of swimsuit magazines to read, the erotic manga issues she would likely miss out on, whether or not the Carrot-Top Savior– as Dragonfly took to calling the orange haired man— had a hero complex the size of Tokyo—apparently Dragonfly knew him—, and perverseness in general.

Dragonfly was a perverted girl.

But Asuna wouldn't trade her friendship for the world.

...

"Sorry again about calling you that, Carrot- I mean, Ichigo," Asuna apologized.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ichigo rolled his eyes at her and the boys smirking at him. "If you happen to find the guy who gave me that stupid name, point him in my direction so I can kick his ass."

Asuna blinked at his bluntness. It was something that she hadn't really expected from the man who had likely saved thousands of people with his words though, with the way he had told them all to fight back against SAO, she shouldn't have been too surprised with his personality. It was nice though, he was refreshingly honest about everything he said— even when he had told her to stop crying.

She sighed at him though immediately brightened when she spotted her only friend and training partner in the game. "Well, here she comes now but I'm warning you, she's strong."

Ichigo immediately turned around though lazily. He wouldn't really kick her ass mostly because he would turn his player icon would turn orange signaling him as a player who attacked other players to everyone and that was a hassle he really didn't need but also because he didn't want to terrorize some poor bastard no matter how much they deserved it for giving him such a crappy name. They could have at least have had the decency to give him a cool sounding name.

When he first laid eyes upon the girl—woman— who had given him the shitty moniker "Carrot-Top Savior," he hadn't been expecting for her to wear to wear a sailor uniform much less for him to actually recognize the woman.

He furrowed his eyebrows at the familiar sight of one of the members of the Visored; he instantly forgot about his moniker when he laid eyes upon her. "Lisa? What the heck are you doing here?"

She stopped walking a few feet away from the rest of the group. "Ichigo. About time you found me."

"Who said I was looking for you in the first place?" Ichigo snorted. "Did that asshole Kisuke stick you in this shitty game too?"

"I'm an otaku, Ichigo. Of course I'm interested in games like these," Lisa responded uncaringly. "And call me, Dragonfly. That's my name in the game."

Klein interrupted whatever Ichigo was about to say next. He quickly bowed at her stammering out, "Hello, my name is Klein, 22, and looking for a— argh!"

Ichigo bopped his head none too gently, causing him to crash to the floor. "Don't interrupt adults when they're talking, Klein. It's rude."

"You know her, Ichigo?" Klein stood up, seemingly unaffected from Ichigo's assault. He grabbed on to Ichigo's hand. "Please, introduce me to her!"

Ichigo sighed before pointing to his companions. "Lisa, this is Klein and the one in black over there is Kirito."

"Yo," Kirito greeted Lisa. "Nice to finally meet you in person, Dragonfly."

Lisa nodded to him. "You too, Kirito."

Then, she turned back to Ichigo and promptly kicked him in the face with an outstretched leg. Klein, who had looked in her direction when she had kicked Ichigo, promptly fainted, muttering something about pink.

Lisa wasn't prepared for Ichigo's counterattack—essentially, it was a reflex that he had quickly redeveloped in the weeks he had been stuck in SAO fighting monsters as well has having kept up with his fighting skills over the months following the loss of his Shinigami powers— a quick drop to the ground using the momentum of her kick before kicking out her legs with a kick of his own, dropping her to the ground. Ichigo immediately grabbed her before she completely fell to the ground and injured herself.

"You know, normally the hero rescues the damsel in distress from a villain, not himself," Lisa commented casually as if she hadn't just been dropped to the ground and caught by Ichigo.

"Your Panty-Flash Tornado is as strong as ever, Lisa," Ichigo grinned at her as he helped her and himself up from the ground.

Lisa snorted at him, dusting herself off. "I'll use a real Panty-Flash Tornado on you if you keep calling me that in the game."

Ichigo shrugged at her before looking at Klein. "You got the Panty-Flash part down if Klein's reaction is anything to go by."

Lisa smirked in amusement. "I'm good at a lot of things, Ichigo. Maybe if you stick around long enough, you'll find out for yourself."

Rather than blush as Lisa had expected, she was pleasantly surprised to see that Ichigo gave her a smirk of his own. "Maybe I will. Now, come on. We have some things to discuss."

Ichigo turned to the trio who had been listening in on their conversation without shame but with more than a touch of confusion on their faces. "You three go on ahead. Lisa and I have a couple things to talk about. Kirito, make sure Klein doesn't do his usual thing with every pretty face he sees."

"You got it, Ichigo," Kirito said with a lazy salute at him. Then, a devilish grin formed on his face. "I'll make sure Klein stays out of trouble while you go and have a chat with your girlfriend."

Lisa had been absolutely sure that that comment by Kirito would have gotten Ichigo riled up. She was even more surprised with that Ichigo said next.

"Maybe a 5 out of 10, Kirito. You have to work at it if you wanna get me all riled up," Ichigo suppressed a yawn with his hand covering up his mouth.

Who was this person and what had he done to Ichigo? There was no way that the Ichigo she had known would have just brushed off a comment like that as if it were nothing.

"Besides, if you think about it, it's actually a compliment. If I can get a girl as hot as her as my girlfriend, I think I'd be pretty happy with my life," Ichigo finished.

There wasn't a person other than Ichigo who didn't have their mouths wide open. Instead, he was grinning at their stupefied expressions. He saw now why Yoruichi would always tease him or why Kisuke would make some infuriating comment.

For the reaction they would get.

Lisa felt her cheeks redden.

"Come on, Lisa. I hope you can keep up with me." A moment later, he vanished.

A moment later, Lisa did as well.

Kirito sighed. "Man, why does he always leave me with all the hard jobs?"

...

Ichigo stopped shunpoing near the merchant district and a moment later, so did Lisa.

Ichigo leaned against a stone pillar casually. "So, exactly what are you doing here, Lisa?"

"I was a beta tester, Ichigo, meaning that I was here long before you. The real question is what are you doing here?" Lisa retorted.

"Kisuke stuck me in here. Told me to save as many lives as possible while he prepares for another war on the horizon." A small grin formed on Ichigo's mouth as he thought about the ridiculousness of Kisuke preparing the Gotei 13 for a war. "I doubt he'll be successful. Soul Society barely handled it when my friends and I invaded let alone Muramasa or Aizen. He's just wasting his time. Better for him to gather the Visored and continuously invade the Seireitei to get them in the habit of instant retaliation rather than trying to convince the old man to prepare for another war."

Lisa blinked. "War? I haven't heard anything about that before now. Of course, Kisuke isn't in the habit of telling anyone anything before they need to know so that isn't too surprising. I wonder who'll try attacking this time."

Ichigo shrugged. He didn't have any ideas about who would attack the Gotei 13. After all, they had encountered everything from rogue Shinigami to Arrancars to their own Zanpakuto spirits and even more. He didn't think there were too many more dissenters or enemies of the Gotei 13 that had yet to try their hand in toppling the organization. Maybe a couple of Vasto Lorde? Sure, they had encountered a couple already though technically, they were Arrancar at the time. Maybe they would be Rukongai citizens. After all, the Soul Society wasn't exactly the heaven everyone thought it would be. There was still starvation, gangs, and general inequality about.

He sighed. "I'll probably be involved in it though."

"What makes you say that?" Lisa asked.

"Well, Kisuke subtly said that I should consider this the next part of my training," Ichigo explained and clarified further when he noticed the bemused expression on her face. "Kido spells."

"Ah," Lisa said in realization. "Yeah, that makes sense. You suck at Kido."

Ichigo bit back a retort. "Which explains why I'm training. To get better. Like most people do when they suck at something."

Lisa pouted at him and Ichigo was mildly alarmed that the first word that popped up in his mind when he saw her pout was cute. "You've changed, Ichigo. You were a lot more fun to tease when you would turn red and sputter out nonsensical things."

"I thought I would reinvent myself," Ichigo gestured to the world around them. "It is a virtual game after all. And I thought I would take some advice Zangetsu offered me... a long time ago."

Lisa internally winced as his voice trailed off. Even though her own Zanpakuto spirit was hollowfied, even that was better than Haguro Tonbo being ripped from her and gone forever. Or maybe not forever consider Ichigo's earlier statement. Still, she wouldn't even begin to know how to cope with Haguro Tonsho not being there anymore. "What advice was that?"

"Abandon your fear. Move forward. Move forward and never stop. You'll age if you pull back. You'll die if you hesitate." Even though Lisa knew he was reciting words that he had been told, she could hear the absolute belief he had in those words.

Even if it had taken him nearly a year to move on.

"Oh? I guess even idiots like you who charge headfirst into everything without regard for the consequences are capable of something meaningful once in a while," Lisa gave him a playful glance. "Even if you are just repeating something you heard from your Zanpakuto spirit."

"Well, Zangetsu is a part of my very soul," Ichigo thought aloud, "so if you think about it, in some sort of weird twist of logic, I came up with it."

Lisa shot him a look that she wasn't impressed with his reasoning.

"But who knows?" Ichigo said wistfully. "Stick around long enough and maybe I'll come up with something meaningful on my own."

"I guess I could hang around you for a while. Not like I have anything better to do," Lisa commented casually.

"Glad to hear it. It'd be nice to have someone who has combat experience in the party," Ichigo said. "By the way, I noticed you have Shunpo. So did you also get the ‹‹Magic›› skill and the ‹‹Zanjutsu›› skill."

"I didn't have any of them until you used Hado #4: Byakurai in the arena," Lisa admitted with a shrug. "But yes, I have them now. Luckily, Kisuke probably figured I'd be playing this game since I have Kido spells rather than the usual magic spells popping up with other players. I don't think anyone else has Kido spells as their magic spells."

"You wouldn't happen to know how to achieve Shikai and Bankai, would you? I have a couple theories but maybe Getaboushi messaged you...," Ichigo trailed off hopefully.

Lisa shook her head. "No clue but it's probably either something to do with either the mastery or some sort of special quest. And I have absolutely no idea what Kisuke has planned for obtaining Hollowfication."

Ichigo sighed at both Lisa's cluelessness—the same thing he possessed about his Zanpakuto and Kisuke's unfortunate secretive demeanor. "Oh well, I didn't think it would be that easy. Nothing ever is with Getaboushi. Thanks anyways, Lisa."

Lisa casually slapped him upside the back of his head. "I told you to call me Dragonfly, you idiot."

Ichigo smirked at her. "Sorry, but I'm already used to calling you Lisa, Lisa."

Lisa gave the annoying teenager a smirk of her own. "Whatever you say, _Carrot-Top Savior."_

"You bitch! I knew I was forgetting something! Why the hell did you give me such a shitty nickname like that?" Ichigo demanded, eyes narrowed in irritation.

"People wanted to know who you were in the days following your speech," Lisa kept the smirk on her face much to Ichigo's annoyance. "I figured that since I knew you, it wouldn't hurt to give you a moniker to go by."

Ichigo turned around, beginning to walk through the marketplace, annoyed with Lisa and her stupid actions that had landed him a shitty moniker, never noticing the small smile that played on her lips for a few brief seconds.

_It's a good thing that you've decided to change but even better that you haven't changed too much, Ichigo._

She quickly chased after him, slightly surprised that he had managed to cover so much distance in a few short seconds. It made her wonder if ‹‹Shunpo›› had some sort of passive speed ability that she hadn't yet discovered.

"Wait up, Ichigo," Lisa swiftly caught up to him and matched his stride. "Why don't we stop by in a cafe and you can treat a girl to lunch. That way we can talk a little more."

Ichigo decided right then and there to get some revenge for the name she made up for him. "I didn't realize you were that interested in me. You should have told me when I was training with you guys and I would have taken you out and bought you an erotic manga for our first date."

Lisa felt her lips curl upwards slightly at Ichigo's laughable attempt to tease her. "It's no wonder you're so shy around girls if that's your idea of a date, Ichigo."

"Please, Lisa. That would be the perfect date for you and you know it. Or a good present," Ichigo added as an afterthought.

He yawned before opening his menu and checking the time. "Yeah, I guess there's enough time to treat you to lunch before meeting up with Kirito, Klein, and Asuna. By the way, how did you meet Asuna? And how do you know Kirito?"

"I was a beta tester for Sword Art Online, Ichigo. Kirito was also a beta tester. He's pretty well known among the beta testers. He never missed a boss battle and he always got the ‹‹Last Attack Bonus›› on every boss monster in the beta tests," Lisa explained as they entered a cafe and sat down at an available table. "And Asuna was in my group when I was teaching newbies how to play the game. She's easy enough to get along with, a lot better than those perverted male players."

"Should you really be saying that when you're a pervert yourself?"

"Don't forget who lent you swimsuit magazines. You're a perv yourself, but one of those closet pervs," Lisa smirked at his spluttering. "By the way, you still haven't returned the last one I lent to you. I expect it when we get out of here."

They stopped talking for a moment as their orders had arrived. He had ordered a water—he wasn't really that hungry— and Lisa, chocolate covered strawberries and milk. They swiftly resumed talking once the waitress left; Ichigo found it distracting to talk with the way Lisa's tongue lapped up the chocolate on the strawberries thoroughly before curling her tongue around said strawberry seductively. He looked up—barely— to see Lisa flash him a playful grin—she knew exactly what she was doing to him, the bitch!— and made a strangled sound with his throat that made him quickly reach for his water and down it all in a single gulp.

"I didn't have a chance to since my friends and I invaded Hueco Mundo and then with that wannabe-god trying to subjugate everyone and everything," Ichigo finally said after recovering, placing the glass down on the table. "But don't worry, I'll return it when I get a chance. I think Kon took it though..."

Lisa ignored his last statement in favor of the first. A devious thought crossed her mind, one that would definitely get him all flustered and one that she really didn't mind putting into action. "That's right, you defeated Aizen, didn't you?"

A wary look crossed his eyes, "Yeah, and?"

"What did you get from the Gotei 13 for kicking his ass?" Lisa asked bluntly. Her eyes were sparkling with mischief; it was a look Ichigo didn't like at all. That look reminded him of Yoruichi, right after she transformed from her cat form in front of him. In the buff.

"I was supposed to get something?" Came the confused question.

"You know, money or a lifetime supply of erotic manga?"

"I guess I got the Gotei 13 not to prosecute my dad for leaving his post as the Captain of the 10th Division and for that Shinigami-clown Mayuri not to abduct my sisters for experimentation?"

Ichigo immediately tried to get out of his chair the moment Lisa began moving but she had stopped him in his tracks by pressing her feet on his, preventing him from moving a single step. In the same moment, Lisa leaned over the small, round table, grabbed the back of his neck with hands, and pressed her lips against his.

It was a experience that Ichigo had never before experienced though he had, like many other teenage boys, imagined what his first kiss would be like. Her lips were moist and were pressed softly against his at first before it increased in intensity. He had initially kept his mouth shut in a futile attempt to deny her anymore than a simple press of lips but failed when a tremor ran across his nerves at the novel sensation of her soft lips, causing him to open his mouth. And in the moment, Lisa wrestled her tongue into his mouth and started wrestling his own tongue into submission impatiently. It was then that Ichigo rebooted his mind and rather than pull away, he pushed back against her tongue and into her mouth where he felt her pearly white teeth unintentionally before finally reigning control of his tongue and tasting every millimeter of her long, wriggling tongue, the taste reminiscent of the chocolate dipped strawberries that she had consumed as a dessert only moments ago.

Lisa pulled back first, licking her lips as she did so. "Not bad. I rate it a 7 out of 10." She flashed him two thumbs up with an unrepentant, nearly blank look on her face save for the twinkle of amusement in her eyes. "Better than the last three guys I've kissed. Not bad at all."

Ichigo came to his senses a moment after Lisa finished speaking, only now understanding what she had just said. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and though his traitorous mind completely enjoyed what had just happened, he instead yelled at her, "You bitch! You took my first kiss!"

"Oh, really?" Again, she flashed him two thumbs up. "Then, if I take that it's your first time kissing a girl into consideration, then I have to rate that kiss an 8 out of 10. Even better."

Ichigo settled his face into a deep scowl but internally, he sighed. There was nothing he could do about the past, best to just move forward. Even if he was sure that Zangetsu hadn't considered this situation when he had uttered those words. Still, maybe he should take a page out of his Hollow's book and try to get revenge.

Violent revenge.

He let out a sigh. Revenge wasn't really his thing. Kicking ass and taking names, sure, he'd done it a lot during his days as a Substitute Shinigami, but revenge? Why fuel the cycle of hatred? He liked to consider himself an easygoing guy these days. Sure, there were some things that made him want to kick peoples' asses but for the most part—at least, ever since he had started traveling with Kirito and Klein— he was pretty easygoing. He had to be to deal with Klein's idiocy anyways. Kirito was easy enough to get along with— like a more talkative, much smaller Chad. They had each other's backs, all three of them, and he was much more relaxed with them than he had ever been in a long while.

Ichigo looked to Lisa's half-full plate of strawberries and grinned as an idea struck him. Quickly, he snatched one off her plate and then proceeded to lob it at her, scoring a direct strike in between her eyes.

"Don't steal first kisses," he drawled lazily as Lisa wiped off the chocolate that had gotten on her skin with a nearby napkin, "you cradle robber."

There. Sweet, non-violent retaliation. Completely literal too.

"I'll let that one slide," Lisa placed the dirtied napkin on the table, "since you're still coming to terms with your first kiss."

Ichigo let out a breath of air. He hadn't been sure whether to make a run for it or not. Lisa could be quite vicious when she wanted to be.

"But try not to read anything into the kiss," Lisa added on. "You deserved a thank you for putting that bastard down and I promised myself to kiss the guy or girl who kicked his ass."

"So does that mean I get a second kiss?" Ichigo grinned cheekily at her.

Lisa held back a laugh though her face was crinkled in amusement. This new Ichigo was... interesting. "You want another one? I guess I'm not as out of practice as I thought. But how about we save the second kiss for your real body instead of this virtual one, that way, you actually get to have your first kiss."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Ichigo waved his hand dismissively at her for a second. "So, what level are you?"

"Wow, Ichigo, that's like asking a girl for her three sizes. I didn't realize you were that bold before," Lisa nearly giggled at his red face. Nearly. It was just so fun to tease him. "I'm level 11, Ichigo."

Ichigo nodded to himself—slowly since he was still recovering from the shock of what she had just said. Maybe one day he would get used to her.

That day just wasn't today.

"A-a level higher than me then," Ichigo cursed himself for showing weakness in front Lisa, who would likely take advantage of it later on. "Have you unlocked any Zanjutsu techniques? Or developed any Zanjutsu skills using the ‹‹Original Sword Skill››?"

Lisa pursed her lips in irritation. "Just a couple basics ones, nothing fancy. I still haven't gotten used to that stupid system enough to use it yet."

"What?" Ichigo smirked cockily at her. "A former Lieutenant of the Gotei 13, a Visored, and self-proclaimed otaku actually having trouble with something?"

Lisa kicked him in the shin. She scowled at him. That OSS system actually was difficult to use, at least, that was her perspective after having used it a dozen and a half times. "And you've created a sword skill that hits more three times?"

"I've used it a couple times, created a 5-hit sword skill but I'm waiting until I get Hakuda to create anymore sword skills so I can combine them and Shunpo to create better sword skills," Ichigo responded. "It's called ‹‹Lunar Revolution››."

"Oh, and are you planning on sharing it with anyone?" Lisa asked, interested.

"Why? You want it?" Ichigo offered. "Klein and Kirito wanted to make their own sword skills so neither one of them wanted it."

"If you're offering," Lisa shrugged. "I'm used to four, five, and six-hit combos on the higher level floors so it's a pain having only one and two-hit sword skills."

‹‹Original Sword Skills›› as Ichigo found out after creating his first sword skill, ‹‹Lunar Revolution››, were capable of being given to only one other person through a ‹‹Skill Manual›› that appeared in his inventory immediately after creating the skill. Additionally, ‹‹Original Sword Skills›› could also possess up to two elemental attributes and a physical attribute. Of course, the latter aspect of the ‹‹Original Sword Skill›› system also applied to some sword skills given by the system.

"Here you go," Ichigo handed her the ‹‹Skill Manual››. For his sword skill, Ichigo had selected 15% Light, 15% Darkness, and 70% Physical. It was a relatively easy technique that had the user of the skill circle the opponent once, hacking at the opponent four times before making a full revolution and uppercutting the opponent with enough strength to force them down or away. While it would normally be relatively simple or easy to counter, it became that much more difficult to counter once ‹‹Shunpo›› was used to revolve around the opponent. For most people, even monsters, save for himself and Lisa, they would hardly be able to see him move let alone react to the technique until they were already being forced back or down on the ground. The light and darkness elements of the technique activated the first four attacks, alternating between light and darkness. The fifth and final strike was purely physical.

"Thanks," Lisa swiftly read over the details of the skill. "Not bad. The elemental thing is new to me though I guess it make sense since there's magic in the game. Pretty simple but since it uses Shunpo, the technique will be too fast most people or monsters to react. Nice job, Ichigo. I guess I'll have to top this soon."

Ichigo snorted. "Not before me."

Lisa flashed him a quick grin. "I guess it'll be a competition then. Now, hurry up and pay the bill so we can get moving."

Ichigo rolled his eyes at her sudden impatience but paid the bill anyways once the waitress had arrived with the bill.

"Not a bad first date, Ichigo," Lisa stood up and began walking away. "I'll be waiting outside for you, Ichigo."

Lisa smirked to herself as she heard his words.

"Don't take away my first date too, you bitch!"

...

_November 30th, 2022_

"So, since Kirito and Lisa have the most experience in ‹‹Floor Boss›› battles, I think they should take the lead."

Asuna and Klein nodded their agreement to Ichigo's statement.

Lisa slapped him upside the back of his head, having discovered yesterday that it was a better though less satisfying alternative to kicking him in the head and subsequently receiving a punch or two in return. It was less satisfying because he had a hard head and it barely fazed him. It certainly didn't stop him from continuing to call her Lisa despite her many attempts to convince him otherwise. "I told you to call me Dragonfly, Ichigo."

Ichigo waved her off in favor of addressing Kirito. "Any ideas on how to combat that bastard Kobold Lord. He's pretty strong with that bone axe of his."

They, the players who were challenging Illfang the Kobold Lord, were a player short of a full raiding party, numbering 47 instead of the full 48 that the ‹‹Floor Room›› could handle at anytime. They were divided into eight groups, lettering A-H. Groups A and B were the heavy armor Tank parties; their purpose was to essentially endure the boss's attacks. One Group would always be in reserve so they could give the other Group a chance to recover from the boss's assault. Groups C to E were the high movement assault parties with two parties always dealing damage to the boss and the other party (E) would distract the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Group F was the long weapon support party comprising of spear wielders and other weapons with a long range. Group G was the magical division support party, with four members supporting the Groups attacking the boss and the other two members would support the Group distracting and damaging the Ruin Kobold Sentinels.

And finally, there was Group H. The Group comprising of Ichigo, Lisa, Kirito, Asuna, and Klein. They were essentially the multi-purpose party; Diavel had basically assigned them the role of supporting everyone whenever they could since they were the most versatile team. All five were sword wielders, Asuna had a rapier, Klein, a curved sword, Kirito, a straight sword, Lisa, a considerably longer than average nodachi, with a black blade and a dark blue hilt with a square tsuba and two rectangular attachments on two ends. Ichigo possessed the sealed form of his Zanpakuto; it resembled his Bankai blade in its appearance of a daito though it was slightly longer, nearing the size of his Shikai blade and the width of the black blade almost perfectly midway between his Shikai and Bankai blades.

Of course, another reason was Ichigo's and even Lisa's massive mana reserves. Ichigo's current mana reserves were holding steady at 10,100, having increased at a steady 400 with each level up. Lisa's reserves were about half that but even that was more than the 2,000 to 3,000 that everyone else's mana averaged numerically. Of course, Ichigo suspected that the higher level Kido spells he would be able to use cost much more than the measly 150 mana cost of Hado #1: Sho or 100 mana cost of Bakudo #1: Sai so he would be grateful later on for his mana reserves.

"Alright, is everybody ready for this boss battle?" Ichigo blinked, slightly guilty for only slightly paying attention to Kirito's plans.

"You warned Diavel about the nodachi, right, Kirito?" Ichigo asked, nodding to the man speaking passionately to the raiding party.

Kirito nodded. "Yeah, you took too long on your date with Dragonfly so I let Diavel know about the switch on my own."

Ichigo smiled tightly at his teasing though offered no response but a small nod of his head, appreciating his attempt to lighten the mood of everyone. It worked too if the small smile on everyone's face was anything to go by.

"Alright, everybody knows the plan!" Diavel shouted to them. "Remember, just do your best and don't falter. We can beat this boss and prove to everyone that this game can be won!"

A resounding cheer filled the area in approval of Diavel's words.

Diavel slowly opened the large doors of the boss room. Within, was a room with white pillars and light shining from stained glass. It was a room twenty meters wide and a hundred meters deep. Illfang the Kobold Lord was the boss of the Floor. He stood over two meters tall and was heavily rotund, with red fur and and the outline of a blue-grey diamond on his belly with an actual diamond within the outline. His face was reminiscent of a pig— if pigs were demonic and possessed red eyes and constantly bared a full set of yellowed incisors. In one of his hands—the right— he wielded a huge, bone axe while his left hand held a leather shield. Behind his waist, the boss monster carried an oversized nodachi. Over his his helmeted head, Illfang's four HP bars were displayed.

Three Ruin Kobold Sentinels, minions of the Kobold Lord though unlike the ones in the dungeon, these were armored and wielding halberds instead of clubs, charged the moment the last player stepped into the boss room.

"Attack!" Diavel roared, pointing his sword at the monsters of the boss room.

Immediately, Group E, led by Kibaou, immediately engaged the charging Ruin Kobold Sentinels, as Groups A, C, and D, rushed past them, engaging Illfang the Kobold Lord. Group B remained near the Groups attacking the Kobold Lord, ready to take over for Group A once the first health bar had been whittled down to nothingness. Groups F and G remained near Group E, assisting them in combat though two of the magicians of Group G broke off and assisted the boss-fighting Groups in attack Illfang.

And Group H...well, in all honesty, they were bored. They had managed to snatch a Ruin Kobold Sentinel for themselves the moment the battle had begun and they had finished it off within minutes. They had all dispersed, three of them—Kirito, Klein, and Asuna— watching Kibaou's battle to make sure that no one died and the final two—Lisa and Ichigo— observing the battle with the other Ruin Kobold Sentinel.

"Oi, Lisa, I wanna go battle against the boss. Are you okay here?" Ichigo asked after a long while, dealing with another two Kobold Ruin Sentinels that had popped up with another four once two of the Kobold Lord's HP bars had been dealt with by the Groups.

"Yes, Ichigo, I think I'm more than capable of watching other people fight," Lisa said sarcastically, giving him a flat look. "Go and play with your toy."

Ichigo grinned, saluting her. "Thanks, Lisa."

"Call me Dragonfly!" Lisa yelled after him.

"Oi, Diavel," Ichigo said, stopping next to a visibly tired Diavel who was panting for breath after having battled Illfang for both of his health bars.

"Ichigo?" Diavel finally caught his breath. "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be helping out the others with the Ruin Kobold Sentinels?"

"Nah, they have it covered. And Li-Dragonfly is more than capable of handling a Sentinel," Ichigo replied.

"What are you doing here then, Ichigo?" Diavel asked, honestly curious why Ichigo would come to where the boss battle was taking place.

Ichigo jerked his head to Illfang, currently attacking the shields of Group A with all his might. "I want a shot at him."

Diavel blinked in confusion. "You want to help out in the boss battle?"

"No," Ichigo said. "I want to try battling him on my own."

Diavel stared at him. "You want to take on the ‹‹Floor Boss››... on your own?"

Ichigo shrugged. "Just for a health bar or so. I mean, you fought the ‹‹Field Boss›› guarding the dungeon so it's only fair that you let me battle him for a while."

"But...but you could die!" Diavel shouted in protest.

Ichigo snorted. "If I died to such a pathetic monster, I deserve to die. So, you going to let me fight him or what?"

It wasn't really that he was bored that Ichigo had decided to take on the ‹‹Floor Boss›› on his own though it was a part of the reason. The real reason was that he had noticed every Group engaging the boss tiring quickly. Group A, the Group currently tanking Illfang hadn't quite yet recovered from their first time tanking the boss. The problem was that they likely hadn't gotten used to battles as long as boss battles. Ichigo was, especially, since he had spent most nights grinding for experience points, items, and increased mastery of his skills against monsters for hours on end. He didn't think anyone else or at least, most people, did what he had done most nights and as a result, they weren't used to battling for hours on end like he was. Ichigo figured that most players trained on and off throughout the day, and subsequently, they were used to more time for a break.

So, he decided to step in before people died because they were too tired to fight.

Diavel sighed. Even he could see that the raiding party was tiring faster than he had anticipated. The way their shields shook and the way their swords swung slower highlighted to him that the raiding party needed more rest otherwise their reactions would become slower as the fight continued and ultimately, that would become the result of a player's death. Even his own reactions were slowing.

So, Diavel chose to let Ichigo fight the boss on his own. It would grant them all a much needed reprieve. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dragonfly—one of the most well known beta testers even in the beta game— move closer to Group B, the tanking Group in reserve, before nodding at him. A signal to let Ichigo battle Illfang the Kobold Lord.

Diavel sighed. "Go ahead. I'll pull everyone back. Try not to die."

As Ichigo turned around, Diavel placed a hand on his shoulder. "Thanks for this."

"No problem," Ichigo replied before running towards the boss. "Hey, Illfang! Get your ugly ass over here!"

"All Groups, pull back!" Diavel ordered.

"But sir, the boss...?" One of his party members trailed off as they saw Ichigo used the sword skill ‹‹Uppercut›› to launch Illfang the Kobold Lord off his feet and a considerable distance away. "Hooray for Carrot-Top Savior-sama!"

"Don't call me that, you bastard!" Came the rather loud reply just before countering the Kobold Lord's basic downward strike and retaliating with a ‹‹Horizontal›› skill.

Evidently, he had some issues to work out.

Thank God he was working those issues out on the boss rather than them.

Illfang wasn't a particularly difficult opponent despite being the ‹‹Floor Boss››. Ichigo could easily see through the boss's moves— a set pattern that Ichigo had discerned within minutes of watching the Groups battle Illfang though, on the rare occasion, Illfang used a spin that knocked everyone near him away a significant distance away. It was the only variation in his set pattern of attack. For Ichigo, Illfang was on the level of a basic Hollow, one that thought little more than to consume souls and one whose attacks he could see coming a mile away.

It was slow-going though. Illfang attacked quick enough that he had dealt some damage to Ichigo— though they wouldn't even rate as flesh wounds in the real world— and that it took Ichigo longer to find an opening in the boss's defense that was long enough to use a sword skill. Perhaps two out of every ten of Illfang's attacks left an opening long enough, usually after Illfang himself had used an axe skill. Still, with ‹‹Shunpo›› as one of his skills, he was more than fast enough to avoid any of Illfang's axe skills.

After twenty minutes, Illfang's third HP bar had been whittled down to half, Ichigo switched gears and began using Kido spells to disrupt the Kobold Lord's attacks.

He shunpoed backwards and held out a hand at Illfang. "_Disintegrate, you black dog of Rondanini! Look upon yourself with horror and tear out your own throat! Bakudo #10: Horin!"_

An orange colored sphere spiraling with a yellow pattern formed within the space of his curled hand as he uttered an incantation before a large orange and yellow colored tendril shot forward from his hand to Illfang. Ichigo was right to expect that the spell wouldn't immobilize Illfang for even a second— after all, he tried the same thing when he, Kirito, and Klein had scouted the boss room. What he had intended was for the spell to wrap around one of Illfang's limbs— and he succeeded.

The tendril of swirling orange and yellow wrapped around Illfang's axe-wielding hand, preventing the monster from initiating an axe skill. Using Shunpo, Ichigo closed the distance between he and the boss monster in a flash. Not even a second later, Ichigo initiated his strongest sword skill.

"‹‹Lunar Revolution!››" It was a force of habit to yell out his attack— though really, he only ever yelled out "Bankai!" or "Getsuga Tensho!" so it wasn't even that much of a habit. He resolved to try not yelling out his attacks in the future. Why waste breathe? It might have sounded cool but cool didn't win fights.

Immediately, he allowed the spell to fade from his left and his sword— also level 10— was bathed in a soft, blue light before he quite literally vanished from the sights of everyone— including Illfang the Kobold Lord— with the exception of Lisa. They did, however, notice the large red gash on the boss's chest, and hear a swooshing sound as Ichigo rounded Illfang in a perfect circle before he reappeared in front of the boss and launched him away with the final hit of the 5-hit technique, an uppercut blow.

Ichigo then froze for five seconds— thankfully, the boss was stunned for fifteen seconds— before he calmly Shunpoed away.

"All yours, Diavel. Make sure you watch out for the nodachi," Ichigo patted his back.

Diavel nodded dumbly, amazed that the single 5-hit skill of Ichigo's had managed to bring Illfang to his fourth and final HP bar. "Group B, tank the boss! Groups C and D attack! Give everything we got!" Diavel paused for a moment before adding, "And watch out for that nodachi that comes out when Illfang reached a third of HP bar!"

"Not bad, Ichigo," Lisa commented as she easily deflected the Ruin Kobold Sentinel's halberd with her sword before retaliating with a ‹‹Vertical››.

"Thanks," Ichigo said, standing a few feet away from Lisa so that he wouldn't attract the Sentinel's attention. Lisa was more than capable of dealing with one even with as weakened as she was in the game compared to her real self. "He had a pretty basic attack pattern so it wasn't particularly difficult."

"I noticed you took a couple scratches from him though," Lisa said, finishing the Sentinel off with a Hado #11: Tsuzuri Raiden, which she used to generate an electrical current through her sword to deal more damage than she normally would.

"No one's perfect," Ichigo shrugged, casually watching as Kirito, Klein, and Asuna engaged Illfang, who had finally been brought to a third of his last HP bar, with the rest of the Groups.

They watched in companionable silence as Kirito ended up taking the ‹‹Last Attack›› on Illfang and finishing him off. They had both been tense until the final moment, ready to Shunpo in and take the boss out in case Illfang revealed something new that they hadn't anticipated. Thankfully, Kirito had been able to recognize the katana skills in time to save Diavel's life and kill the boss.

A Congratulations! screen appeared before him, detailing the amount of cor, experience, and items received. He grinned as he noted that the experience he gained was enough to bump him up to level 11, and noted with interest that he had gained the same Hado spell that Lisa had used earlier as well as a new Zanjutsu technique thanks to his increased mastery of the ‹‹Zanjutsu›› skill.

"Nice coat, Kirito," Ichigo greeted the trio as they arrived before them.

"Thanks, it was the drop for getting the ‹‹Last Attack››," Kirito said. "It's called the ‹‹Coat of Midnight››. Of course, it's not nearly as impressive as soloing the boss for an entire HP bar."

Ichigo shrugged. "I've had training. It wasn't too difficult." He turned to Asuna and Klein. "And how'd you guys enjoy fighting a boss."

"It wasn't hard at all for a samurai," Klein grinned at him and gave them a thumbs up.

Asuna giggled at Klein's answer before replying herself. "It was... an interesting experience."

"Are we heading to the Second Floor now?" Kirito asked.

Ichigo nodded his head, turning to Lisa. "Not much else to do on this floor. You coming with us, Lisa?"

Lisa smirked. "Miss me already?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes. "I was just asking. I know how you and your group don't like being forced to do something. Bunch of lazy bastards."

"You're part of our group, you know?" Lisa commented. "But yes, Ichigo, I'll be sticking around you for a while yet. Everything interesting always happens around you anyways."

Ichigo waved her off, moving past the four of his friends and towards the staircase leading to the Second Floor.

He turned his head backwards to look at them. "You guys coming or what? We might have all day but I do want to get out of here as fast as possible, ya know?"

~Bleach/SAO A1 Ch3~

**A/N:**

**Real Name: Ichigo Kurosaki **

**Character alias: Ichigo**

**Level: 11 **

**HP: 2,690**

**Mana: 10,100 **

**Col: 1,250**

**Equipment: **

**Sealed Zanpakuto— Level 11. Durability: Infinite. Type: Slash. Attack: 10-12. Weight: 20. Requirement: Have the Zanjutsu skill. Upgrades: None. Information: A Zanpakuto may only be received when a player has the Zanjutsu skill. It has infinite durability, however, this is countered by doing 0.80x the damage of the average sword of the highest unlocked Floor, making it an unpopular skill.**

**Skills:**

**Zanjutsu: 25/1000**

**Magic: 18/1000**

**Shunpo: 21/1000**

**Acrobatics: 7/1000**

**Searching: 17/1000**

**One unused skill slot.**

**Techniques:**

**Magic:**

**Hado #1: Sho: A basic spell that pushes a monster away. Useless against Boss monsters.**

**Hado #4: Byakurai: A spell that gathers mana in a single hand and discharges it in a burst of white lightning. **

**Hado #11: Tsuzuri Raiden: A spell that charges electricity in a weapon or object. Useful for stunning opponents for a brief time. Cannot be used directly on monsters, NPCs, or players.**

**Bakudo #1: Sai: A basic spell that locks limbs together for a brief time. Useless against Boss monsters.**

**Bakudo #4: Hainawa: A spell that binds enemies with a yellow, mana-created rope to prevent movement for a brief time. Can only immobilize a limb of a Boss monster.**

**Bakudo #8: Seki: A spell that generates an orb of light blue energy which repels whatever strikes it. Works only partially against Boss monsters. **

**Bakudo #9: Geki: A spell which draws symbols which permeates an opponent's body with red energy, causing complete paralysis. Lasts 10 seconds.**

**Bakudo #10: Horin: A spell which uses mana-created rope to completely bind an opponent. Can only bind a single limb of a Boss monster.**

**Zanjutsu:**

**Vertical: (1-hit strike) A basic sword skill slashing vertically.**

**Horizontal: (1-hit strike) A basic sword skill slashing horizontally.**

**Slant: (1-hit strike)A basic sword skill slashing diagonally. **

**Uppercut: (1-hit strike) A basic sword skill delivering an uppercut.**

**Getsuga: Ichigo's first technique that originates from his Zanpakuto, received from the battle with Illfang the Kobold Lord by raising his mastery of Zanjutsu to 25. Effect: Increases the damage dealt by a Zanpakuto from 0.8 of the average sword of the highest unlocked Floor to 1.5. Requires 350 mana per minute to use. As the mastery increases, the mana consumed decreases.**

**Lunar Revolution (Original Sword Skills): (5-hit combo): A five-combo that requires Shunpo. The user circles the opponent once, dealing four strikes, before the fifth strike delivers an uppercut with enough power to knock an opponent off from his/her/its feet. Cool time: 5 seconds. Stuns an opponent for 15 seconds. **

**...**

**HP Formula: [200(L—1) + 250 + 50(s)] Where L represents a player's current level and 250 represents a player's health at level 1 and s represents the number of STR points a player has put into STR.**

**Example: So, for Ichigo, the formula would be [200(11—1) + 250 + 20(22)] = 2,690**

**... **

**Sdarian: That's a good idea for the dual blades, but, ah well, I already made up my mind, sorry. About the Kido spells, well, he can't give away all of Soul Society's secrets away (even if they don't know about Soul Society), can he?**

**ThatGuy16: I'm still on the fence about this being a purely SAO fic or if this should continue into the Bleach timeline. I was thinking about how badass Ichigo would be if he entered theThousand Year Blood War with all the skills he learned. I think everybody plans to finish a fic with the first chapter they write but something happens along the way. I plan on finishing this fic though how long it'll take, I'm unsure.**

**Antex-The Legendary Zoroark: I actually considered this pairing for a while. They will definitely be (strange) friends though whether or not there's a romantic pairing for them involved, I don't know.**

**Dave the Colossus: Yeah, yeah, everybody wants me to update that fic. I don't think the addition of Lisa felt forced though I'll leave the readers to be the judge of that. I don't really know why Ichigo would go after someone who resembles his mother but to each their own, I suppose. Yeah, I wonder how he'll come out of it too. Haha. **

**Dp11: Maybe you're right about the story thing but why would Ichigo go after someone who resembles his mother? Especially since she died; if anything it might make him avoid her though, as you can see, I haven't exactly brought it up in the fic.**

**merry1995: Thanks. You'll be seeing Chibi Urahara around. Actually, he's slated to make an appearance next chapter.**

**General Slime: Well, you'll definitely see the reaction of an enraged Kayaba Akihiko down the line though I won't say what for a while yet. Yeah, I know. What I forgot to mention was that the mana bar wouldn't appear unless the magic skill was already selected. And no one looked for a magic skill with a game called Sword Art Online.**

**Gacsam: I considered including Arrancar. Specifically, Coyote Starrk, Tier Harribel (maybe her Fraccion),Ulquiorra, and of course, Grimmjow. Dunno about the Quincy. As you can see, I added Lisa, though I don't know if she'll be the final pairing. Certainly seems like it right now.**

**Crimson Homura: Absolutely not... mostly because I don't know when I'll update next.**

**KuramaFTW: So...like Lisa Yadomaru?**

**Jlargent: I've certainly considered it... along with a whole host of other Arrancar. Don't know if I will though. Or what their purpose would be other than to give Ichigo a hard time.**

**Kyo no Kitsune: Silica? She's pretty young at this time. (Only 12). **

**Vakom Sunrunner: Thank you. Don't really know about that yet. Yeah, she is a lot more like Yuzu than Suguha.**

**Someone Else Took My Name: Yeah, I thought I mentioned earlier than the Bleach timeline is moved up. Ah well.**

**cyber phantom99: Not sure how the Hollowfication will be introduced yet. Probably nothing about Hell armor since I don't think even Kisuke knew about that particular armor. But who knows?**

**And, finally done with the third chapter. For Lisa's stats, assume the same amount of HP, though with a slightly different skill set (that I have yet to mention) and mastery level. Also, she doesn't have the Getsuga skill.**

**Also, while I'm on the topic, does anyone have any ideas for her Shikai and Bankai, because I've been thinking about the words "Iron Drink Dragonfly" but nothing really pops out to me. Any recommendations or ideas?**

**Still open to pairings. **

**I will say that Lisa is a pretty fun character to write. I hope I kept her in character.**

**I hope Ichigo didn't seem to out of character. He is supposed to be maturing, after all...**

**Sorry, I couldn't stop myself from laughing.**

**Sorry for the late update.**

**Oh, and you might have noticed that I created a Bleach/Frozen fic. I haven't even watched Freezing again but I'm not a complete liar! I mean, the words Frozen and Freezing are pretty similar, right? One's the act of doing something and the other is a state of being. Not too different.**

**Heh.**

**As always,**

**Thanks for reading!**


End file.
